Star Fox: Universe Adventures
by Lord Maximus
Summary: By a sudden twist of fate Steven Universe finds himself on a world called Dinosaur Planet and becomes tangled with a new friend named Krystal in a war. It is up to the Crystal Gems and mercenary named Fox McCloud to follow him to this new world and save him from evil minds that plot in the shadows that leads to an even greater danger.
1. Chapter 1

**Star Fox – Universe Adventures**

 _On the third planet of a single solar system exists a race of people who have lived on it for the past million years. Long ago a race of advanced beings sought to colonize this planet, wiping out the life that already lived there. A handful of rebels opposed their people's wish to colonize this world and fought a long a brutal war but in the end the rebels were victorious and have settles on this planet as their new home. And one day their leader gave birth to a child who inherited her powers while living the life of a human like the rest of the people who were born on the planet._

* * *

 **We are the Crystal Gems**

 **We'll always find a way**

 **And if you think we can't**

 **We'll always find a way**

 **That's why the people of this world believe in**

 **Lapis**

 **Peridot**

 **Garnet**

 **Amethyst**

 **And Pearl**

 **And Steven!**

* * *

"Come on, Peri. Just relax for a bit." Amethyst said as she leaned against the drill, looking up at the working Peridot. "Garnet and Pearl just brought something back from a mission and Steven wants us to check it out!"

The green Gem sitting atop of the drill sighed as she slid goggles off of her visor. "Is it really this important? In case you have forgotten we need to take care of the Cluster soon or this planet will not be here long enough for me to 'check it out'."

"Aw, relax Periwork-aholic. Come on, Steven really wants to see what they brought back." Amethyst waved off Peridot's concerns as the green Gem slowly climbed down. "They say it's some kind of dimensional viewing-thingy."

"A Dimensional Viewer?!" Peridot exclaimed and nearly fell on her butt off the drill but managed to climb down onto the ground. "There's one on this planet!"

"Sure sounded like that." Amethyst chuckled at the surprised look on Peridot's face. "Must be pretty big to have you freaking like this."

Peridot flushed but shook it off. "Dimensional Viewers were decommissioned centuries ago when Homeworld couldn't use them to find a way into other dimensions to colonize more planets. They could only send one orb to another dimension and the other to view through it but that was it. I've never seen one before."

"So let's go see it!" Amethyst laughed as she tugged Peridot along who while reluctant to stop working on the drill could not help but be curious about the Dimensional Viewer and supposed a quick look wouldn't be too much to ask for.

"But what about Lapis? Do we leave her alone at the barn?" Peridot asked as Amethyst dragged towards the temple.

After a year of being fused with Jasper Lapis Lazuli had finally been freed but it left a heavy impact on her. She had grown bitter and withdrawn, especially towards Peridot for obvious reasons but she had yet to harm the small green Gem which was something to feel good. Jasper was bubbled and left in the temple while Lapis stayed inside the barn, not really talking to anyone except for Steven and Steven did almost all of the talking.

"She's not going anywhere." Amethyst said, not blinking an eye.

Peridot could only sigh as Amethyst was no doubt dragging her along for another one of her crazy shenanigans but the green Gem had learned to just accept it by now.

* * *

Steven Universe and his best friend Connie stared at the blue orb that shined a bit in the moonlight near the window at the foot of Steven's bed. "So pretty."

"So this allows us to see into other dimensions?" Connie asked, staring at the orb in fascination.

"That's what Pearl said. She and Garnet went back to make sure there was nothing dangerous back at the place they got it from." Steven answered, both hands on his cheek as he lied just a few inches away from the orb with Connie.

"Any idea how it works?" Connie asked.

Steven sat up and picked up the orb. "Well, Pearl said that two orbs are created and that one is sent through a portal to view any dimension that is found. So maybe if we ask it really nicely it'll show us where its buddy is."

"Wait, Steven…" Connie stopped as the orb flashed and an image appeared inside it.

It showed what appeared to a wooden room lit by a few torches but it was hard to see what kind of room it was.

"Wow." Steven looked awestruck at the image. "Is that in another dimension?"

"I can't see much but I think it's on a ship." Connie commented.

"A space ship?"

Connie shook her head. "No, a boat but more like a sailboat."

"Oh!" Steven said, still impressed but then looked disappointed. "Too bad we can't see more."

He slowly picked the orb and held it close to his face.

"Be careful, Steven." Connie warned.

"Don't worry, Connie. It's perfectly safe."

That was apparently the wrong thing to say as the second Steven said those words the orb started glowing so bright it blinded the two of them as Steven dropped the orb.

"Connie what's-AAH!"

"Steven?! STEVEN!"

* * *

The feeling of water dropping onto his face caused Steven to open his eyes. "Connie? Huh?"

He looked around, seeing that he was not in his house at the Gem temple but what looked a lot like the room he was looking at through orb…

The orb!

He looked around frantically and spotted it sitting on a pedestal just behind him. "Wonder where I am? Did the orb take me here?"

The orb flashed and saw an image of his room with a fearful Connie shouting for someone.

"Connie? Connie, I'm here! Can you hear me?" Steven tapped the orb to try and get her attention but the room suddenly shook, causing Steven to drop the orb. "Hey!"

He chased after the orb as it rolled around the room, finally picking it up after a few minutes of chasing it. That was when the shaking finally died down and allowed Steven the chance he needed to pick the orb back up.

"This place is really shaky. Better get out and see what's going on." Steven said when he saw a way out, only to be surprised when he stepped out.

It was dark and stormy and it was raining but Steven didn't have a raincoat so he just simply walked out to see where he was. He was some kind of boat but when he walked over to the edge he saw nothing but clouds!

"Wow! A flying boat!" Steven gasped in awe as his pupils became star-like in wonder.

"Excuse me?"

"GAH!" Steven jumped as he spun around and saw what looked to be a…blue furry fox talking to him. "Whoa! Are you a fox?!"

The person in question did indeed look like a fox, a female to be exact that wore golden bra-like top and a small white loincloth along with jewelry, including two bands on her tail and silver braces on her shoulders, arms, legs, and she wore white and golden sandals on her feet. She also sported a tiara on her head and necklace with a turquoise pendant.

"I…My name is Krystal." The 'talking fox' introduced herself. "I came onto this ship because it attacked me and I wanted to speak to the crew onboard."

"Really, well I just suddenly came here because of this. My name's Steven Universe." Steven introduced himself politely with a smile. "Do you know where we are?"

"We are on Sauria, the Dinosaur planet." Krystal answered, looking around warily.

"Dinosaurs?! No way!" Steven gasped in surprise and excitement. "Are there any here?!"

"Let's find out. Stay close to me." Krystal said, gesturing for Steven to come with her as they walked about the top deck of the ship.

"Okay." Steven said, following her and looked for any dinosaurs that might be nearby. He didn't have to wait long before he spotted something in a cage hanging at the top of the deck next to a large pair of doors at the front of the ship with a strange symbol on them. "Hey, what is that?"

Krystal followed his gaze and spotted what was in the cage. "An infant Cloudrunner!"

The small creature inside looked at the two of them as they approached and spoke a language Steven did not understand. "What's it saying?"

" _She_ is telling us we must leave and that we are in danger for being here." Krystal answered, looking around again.

"You can understand her?" Steven asked.

"Yes. And I can teach you how…If you don't mind me touching your mind." Krystal said carefully.

"Touching my mind?" Steven asked.

"My people have telepathic abilities. We can read emotions and learn basic knowledge about anyone we meet with a simple touch." Krystal explained, fully ready to understand if Steven said no.

"Oh! That is so cool!" Steven said enthusiastically. "And I'll learn dino-talk?!"

"Y-Yes you will." Krystal said, taken back by the boy's cheerful demeanor.

"All right. Let's do it! I want to learn dino-talk!" Steven quickly said.

Surprised but happy he was not fearful of her Krystal made a small smile as she placed her hand on Steven's head and closed her eyes. There was a flash of light in Steven's mind as he felt a sudden rush that made him dizzy for a second.

"Whoa…Did it work?" Steven asked. "Can I speak dino now?"

"You are speaking it right now." Krystal said with a chuckle. "You can now speak like a second language quite easily."

"Really?! Yay! Steven Universe, Dino-Talker!" Steven cried out as he pumped a fist into the air.

"Shhh!" The Cloudrunner in the cage hushed the boy. "Be quiet or he'll hear-"

A rumbling sound was heard that caused the infant Cloudrunner to recoil in terror and the doors next to her cage split open, revealing a fire inside and from that fire emerged a hulking figure that leapt out and landed in front of the two newcomers. Both Krystal and Steven stepped back in shock as the figure towered over the two of them. He had green skin, a tyrannosaurus like face with yellow eyes with a red irises and slit pupils, a three clawed right hand while on his left arm was a doubled hook. He wore a red tunic with spiked armor on his shoulders and metallic gold patterned belt around his waist.

The creature stared the two of them down and spread his arms out in welcoming fashion that screamed sarcasm as he spoke with a cold and sharp tone. "General Scales. Ruler, tyrant, and dictator of Dinosaur Planet. What brings the two of you to my world?"

"We are not here to fight you." Krystal quickly spoke, standing in front of Steven. "We received a distress signal that brought us here."

General Scales chuckled as if Krystal had told him a joke. "A distress signal? This whole planet is in distress."

Krystal followed the General as he walked back up the stairs, next to the Cloudrunner's cage. "The Cloudrunner told me about you. The evil General!"

Steven gasped as Scales chuckled. "My girl, I am not evil. I rule over the many dinosaur tribes." Scales glanced at the Cloudrunner and held up his hook. "You see I must control this planet with fear." His hook shook the cage, causing the Cloudrunner to shriek. "Otherwise the tribes will always try to fight against me."

Scales then lunged forward, grabbing Krystal by the neck and lifted her off the ground while Steven gasped in horror. "Hey! Put her down!"

Scales glanced at Steven. "And who are you to command me?"

"I am Steven Universe of the Crystal Gems!" Steven summoned his shield. "Let her go!"

Scales threw his head back and laughed. "Such an amusing child. You have no idea of whom you dare to command."

"I said let her go!" Steven shouted as he threw his shield at Scales who stepped out of the way, glancing at the shield at is cut through the robe holding the infant Cloudrunner's cage and leaving it to fall down.

Scales quickly moved, faster than Steven though and spun, whipping his tail at Steven and knocked him onto the floor.

"OW!" Steven grunted, his face hurting from how strong the tail was.

Scales was not done as while still holding Krystal he grabbed Steven by the collar of his shirt and lifted the both of them up, grinning nastily. "You two dare to challenge me?" Not giving them a chance to speak Scales walked over to the side of the ship, holding them over the railing. "No one can defeat General Scales!"

He hurled the two of them over the railing, laughing as they vanished into the clouds. His moment of victory was short lived however when he spotted the two on a full grown Cloudrunner.

"Bad luck, General. Better luck next time!" Krystal called up with a smile while Steven stuck his tongue out at the general.

"This is not over!" Scales called out in fury as the Cloudrunner flew away, leaving him to seethe in the storm.

"Now let's find the source of that distress signal." Krystal said to the Cloudrunner, giving him instructions.

All the while Scales did not notice the infant Cloudrunner sneak out of her broken cage and fly after them.

The satisfaction of outwitting the tyrannical General Scales had faded away quickly as the Cloudrunner brought them to the source of the distress signal. Krystal used her body to keep Steven warm as they upon a giant fortress in the mountains.

"Wow." Steven whispered as he stared at the fortress that was bigger than even the Sky Arena on Earth with its many towers and stone walls.

"I wonder if this is where the distress signal is coming from?" Krystal pondered.

The Cloudrunner landed on the edge of a platform, allowing the two to get off its back. "This is Krazoa Palace. If you go inside be very careful. This is the dinosaurs' most sacred place."

The Cloudrunner flew back up into the air and vanished into the clouds while Steven waved goodbye before looking at Krystal. "What now?"

"We find a way inside."

"Hey!"

Both of them looked up as the small Cloudrunner from Scales' Galleon flew down and landed in front of them.

"Aw, it's you! You managed to escape!" Steven said happily as he knelt down in front of the infant.

"Thanks to you breaking my cage when Scales wasn't looking." The infant said, looking up at Steven and Krystal. "You're looking for a way into Krazoa Palace?"

"Yes." Krystal nodded.

"Follow me. I know the way in." The Cloudrunner pointed her beak up ahead.

"Cool. I'm Steven and this is Krystal. Who are you?" Steven asked as the Cloudrunner flapped her wings.

"My name is Kyte of the Cloudrunner tribe." The Cloudrunner named Kyte led them down a ramp to another platform were strange creatures resembling glowing brains with tentacles attached to them floated around the edge. "Don't go near those. They are harmless unless you provoke them."

"What are they?" Steven asked as Kyte led them to an entrance.

"Mystical creatures that were created by the mystic energy of the Krazoa. They are mindless and are used as guards at places to keep intruders out." Kyte answered, leading them inside. "Be careful. Krazoa Palace is not as safe as it used to be."

Kyte's statement rang with truth as Krystal and Steven gasped as they came upon another dinosaur that looked like it was dead.

"A triceratops!" Steven gasped as he looked it over. "It's not breathing…"

"An Earthwalker. They must have been here to try and protect the palace from the Sharpclaw." Kyte landed in front of the body. "They had a mighty army but they were not strong enough to stop them."

"Why would they do this?" Steven asked, looking at the body in sadness.

"The Sharpclaw and their leader Scales have always wanted to rule Dinosaur Planet. In the past they were never strong but in this last year they've become a threat to everyone." Kyte explained sadly. "They captured me and Scales put me in that cage as his pet…Because he wanted to use me as a hostage to force my mother to surrender."

"This is horrible." Krystal touched the Earthwalker's body. "This is just horrible…" Krystal gasped as she stepped back.

"What is it?" Steven asked in alarm.

"I feel someone…There are still alive but they are in pain…Deeper in the palace." Krystal explained and looked at Kyte. "Can you lead us deeper inside?"

Kyte nodded. "I can. Follow me."

Steven and Krystal followed Kyte as she led them deeper into the palace, coming into rooms that looked more pristine than the dirty cracked halls they walked through when they first entered the palace. They came on a room with an opening in the wall above the ground and in the center was another Earthwalker who released a gasp of air from hearing someone enter the room.

"Please…Help the Krazoa. They are dying." The Earthwalker gasped as the three approached.

"Hang on!" Steven quickly licked his hand and slapped it on the Earthwalker, healing his injuries instantly.

The Earthwalker stood up and gazed in surprise at Steven. "Thank you. I never thought such healing powers were possible outside of the powers of the Krazoa."

"Thank you. My name's Steven and I'm a Crystal Gem." Steven said happily.

"Are you the one who sent the distress signal?" Krystal asked.

"When the Sharpclaw attacked us I signaled for help. We were massacred." The Earthwalker explained mournfully.

"Why were you here?" Krystal asked.

"The King Earthwalker sent us to protect the Krazoa. They are mighty spirits that give life to a planet. Without them our planet is dead." The Earthwalker answered dreadfully.

"Wow. So they are like super important." Steven commented.

"Is there anything we can do?"

"Only one of pure hearts can receive the power of the Krazoa Spirits." The Earthwalker looked to a barred gate that opened up. "One of must enter the Krazoa Shrine, pass the test and then return here to release the spirit. But we must be quick for there is a great danger."

"What do you mean?" Krystal asked.

"General Scales and his Sharpclaw army attacked us and we were overwhelmed. Scales then unleashed a great evil into the palace."

"An evil?" Steven asked.

"I do not know what it is but I believe it is the reason Scales and the Sharpclaw became so strong. It haunts this palace and we cannot linger here long." The Earthwalker answered.

Krystal looked at the glowing pad inside the room. "Steven, stay here with Kyte. I will go and take this test."

"But I want to help." Steven protested.

"Only one of us needs to take the test and I will not be long." Krystal stated and that was final.

She stepped onto the warp pad and vanished in a flash of light.


	2. Chapter 2

**(Steven Universe Intro)**

 **The Krazoa**

* * *

Krystal opened her eyes and looked around, seeing that she was in a room identical to the one she was just before she appeared her. She stepped off the warp pad and slowly walked forward, coming upon a latter she climbed up slowly, looking around as she did. She made it to the top and looked forward, seeing a long hall with large columns lining the walls and a metal barred floor in front of are where three streams of fire erupted from. Ahead was a latter leading down a small pit with a ladder on the other end leading to the door.

A floating brain shaped creature like the ones from before hovered in the pit but Krystal paid it no mind as she ran past it once she climbed down the ladder and made it to the other side of the pit. The door leading to the other end of the room was sealed by vortex of red swirling energy with a skull in the center. Looking at the door and back at the creature Krystal deduced it was a life force door that could only be opened when the creature was destroyed. Krystal looked down and saw an explosive barrel near the edge and realized what she had to do.

She picked it up and once the creature was close enough she hurled it and it exploded, killing the creature who vanished in a flash of light. The life force door vanished and the barred door behind it retracted, allowing Krystal to continue on. Krystal continued on, leaving the hall and turned right, coming upon another one identical to the one before, only now it was lit by streams of fire from braziers lining the walls and at the end was a barred gate. Krystal looked down and see what looked to be a large switch in the ground so she quickly stepped on it and saw the gate life up.

Krystal realized she only had a short amount of time and rushed forward, rolling out of the way of the fire and stopping when she needed to she made it past the gate just as it started to close and made it into the inner sanctum of the shrine. It was a huge room with four flaming urns in the four corners and columns lining the walls while at the back was what looked like a mirror with a reflective watery surface. As she entered the room a mist of purple light appeared in the center of the room and morphed into the head of a Krazoa, staring at the awe-struck Krystal.

" _You have entered the shrine and summoned me here. If you seek to become my vessel you must first pass my test. The test of Observation._ " The spirit's off-worldly voice whispered. " _Watch closely where I hide. When the urns stop moving you must show me which urn I have hidden in. Find me three times in a row and I will be yours to take back to Krozoa Palace._ "

Krystal watched as the spirit disappeared and six urns rose from the ground. The spirit hovered above one on her right and fell inside the urn before it and the others started moving themselves around. Krystal carefully followed the movements before they stopped and walked over to the one she saw the spirit hide in. The spirit came out for a second and then disappeared again, hovering another one and the cycle started again. Krystal waited for the urns to stop moving before picking the one she was sure the spirit was in and to her relief she picked right as the spirit came back out before disappearing one more time.

She watched one more time as the spirit hid and moved the urns around before making her decision. She touched the urn she was sure the spirit was in and the urns all disappeared. She looked up, seeing the spirit coming out of the watery mirror and realized she had passed the test.

" _Yes…_ " The spirit whispered as it slowly approached.

Krystal slowly walked forward and waited until the spirit was right in front of her. She gasped as the spirit shot itself into her chest, seeping into her body and causing her to glow a bright purple light as she was lifted off the ground for a second. She slowly landed back on her feet and opened her eyes now glowing a purple color. She felt rejuvenated, stronger, feeling the power of the Kraoza spirit inside of her.

* * *

"So these spirits helped make this planet?" Steven asked, listening to the Earthwalker about the Krazoa.

"Yes. The Krazoa are an ancient race of powerful beings that in peaceful hands can bring life but in the hands of evil they can bring great destruction." The Earthwalker nodded. "Scales and his Sharpclaw army attacked this palace to their hands on the Krazoa spirits but only one of pure heart could call upon on them. To protect themselves and this planet the Krazoa spirits scattered themselves to the hidden shrines to hide from Scales who would have used their power to cause nothing but destruction to the rest of the planet."

"Wow." Steven whispered with stars in his eyes.

"How did you lose? My mother told me the Sharpclaw were no match for the army protecting the palace." Kyte commented.

"We were strong in the past but Scales and his forces were much stronger. It must have something to do with the evil that Scales brought here." The Earthwalker replied.

"What exactly is the evil?" Steven asked.

"I do not know but all I know is that it is some kind of specter, haunting the halls of the Krazoa Palace. You must not stay here for long, either of you. Krazoa Palace no longer a safe place, especially for children." The Earthwalker stated.

The warp pod glowed and in a flash of light appeared Krystal, now with purple slowing eyes, who walked back into the room.

"Krystal! You're back!" Steven said happily and noticed her eyes. "Your eyes…"

"A temporary change I am sure. I still need to release the Spirit." Krystal answered with a smile.

"The spirit is inside you? Cool!" Steven exclaimed.

"The Shrines keep the Spirits safe from harm but their powers are useless. Only when the Spirit has been released back into the palace can it be used to stop this war." The Earthwalker said, gesturing to the platform.

Krystal nodded. "Thank you."

"Yes thank you!" Steven said, following after Krystal and Kyte landed on his shoulder.

The platform rose up to the entrance of the small hallway above. Krystal and Steven cautiously stepped forward, coming to the end and looked to the left seeing what appeared to be a watery window showing gigantic room with multiple floors.

"Wow." Steven walked to the window placed his hand on it, feeling the cold watery surface but couldn't push through it.

Krystal looked back and saw the head of a Krazoa built into the wall at the end of the wall with two pillars on either side, having torches lit by green fire that only highlighted how important the seemingly simple statue.

She eyed the glowing glass circle in front of the statue. "I believe this is where I release the spirit."

Steven turned and looked at the statue. "Wow."

Krystal slowly walked up to the statue and stood on the circle, letting out a gasp of breath as she fell to her knees.

"Krystal!" Steven rushed over to her as she threw her head back and watched as the spirit slowly emerged from her body, entering the statue.

The statue's head rumbled and for a second Steven though he heard laughter as the statue's eyes opened. Then it did something unexpected by opening its mouth and released a stream of purple light that shot through the window and into the large chamber.

"Wow. What is that?" Steven asked as Krystal exhaled and stood up.

She looked at the light traveling out of the statue's mouth. "I am not sure…Perhaps the spirit is opening a way for us to further explore the palace."

However before either could do anything all three of them felt a chill through their bodies that caused them to turn around.

"It's you!" Krystal shouted before she and Steven were knocked off their feet and into the light that propelled them at high speed.

In the midst of sudden feeling of flying the orb Steven had found on the Galleon fell out of his pockets and fell below.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

"KRYSTAL! STEVEN!" Kyte screamed out.

The two of them traveled down the light until they collided with something. Both Steven and Krystal had been placed in a large crystal that rose up into the air, traveling up to hole in the ceiling and arriving at the center of the very top of Krazoa Palace. Steven and Krystal opened their eyes, feeling their close proximity to each other and that they were in something.

A couple blinks later and they realized they were trapped in a single large crystal with the Krazoa spirit that Krystal had released traveling around the crystal in a circular fashion, following the pattern of the containment devices that kept the crystal suspended in the air…

And with them trapped inside it.

They had were trapped and there was nothing they could do

* * *

"The orb simply glowed and Steven was gone?!" Pearl exclaimed, taking the one Connie had brought them and held with both her hands. "I can't even see where he is! A Dimensional Viewer isn't supposed to do something like this!"

The Gems had all gathered in front of the temple, even Lapis was there but she stood back a bit, not trusting any of the other Crystal Gems yet.

"Yo Peri, you're good with all the techy stuff. You make it work!" Amethyst said to Peridot who gaped at the idea.

"M-me?! I haven't seen a Dimensional Viewer for a long time now! I don't know how they work…But I do have a theory as to what might have happened." Peridot admitted, earning their attention. "When I read up on what Dimensional Viewers were meant to do I came across logs of a Gem scientist that claimed that with the right amount of power a Dimensional Viewer could be altered into a portal and allow the person holding it to travel through said portal to wherever the orb's counterpart resided. The only problem was the amount of power that was possibly needed was more than half of Homeworld's energy reserves and so the request to test the orbs was denied and left in storage or destroyed on Yellow Diamond's orders."

"So we just juice it up and it'll bring Steven back!" Amethyst grabbed the orb from Pearl. "We can hook it up to Greg's truck and charge it!"

"Greg's truck doesn't have the amount of power it would take to create a dimensional portal!" Pearl objected. "The kind of power to create a portal would take a large amount of energy which we don't have!"

"There is a way…" Garnet spoke up, causing all eyes to fall on her as she took the orb from Amethyst. "We used the energy from the temple to charge this orb and hopefully it will open a portal."

"Garnet, that can be dangerous as it might drain all the energy in the temple. Our security would be down and anything could get in…or out." Pearl pointed out skeptically.

"That's assuming the temple _has_ enough power to do it. The temple would barely substitute for a quarter of the supposed amount of energy needed to create a portal and that's not even taking into account of how much energy would be needed to stabilize and maintain it." Peridot said in agreement. "We don't even know what could have summoned Steven to the other dimension in the first place. For all we know we'd have to drill to the center of the Earth and use the energy from the Cluster itself to get enough energy for the portal."

"We have to try." Garnet said, holding the orb in both hands as she peered into it. "Steven's all alone without anyone to protect him."

The orb flashed for a second and showed what appeared to be a grassy field now with trees and a small nearby river.

"Do you see him?" Pearl anxiously asked, leaning in close to the orb.

"No." Garnet said, her emotions kept under control but there was no doubt she was as worried about Steven as the others. "We need to hurry. Every second we waste Steven could be in greater danger. We have to-"

Garnet stopped as the orb glowed again, this time even brighter which caused all the Gems and Connie to cover their eyes.

"What is happening?!" Pearl cried, covering her eyes.

"It's just like when Steven disappeared!" Connie answered.

"A portal must be opening!" Garnet replied. "Everyone hurry!"

"We're coming, Steven!"

The light spread out, claiming the Gems and Connie and a moment later they were gone, leaving the orb alone on the beach.


	3. Chapter 3

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

 **Dinosaur Planet**

"Ugh…What did I land on?" Amethyst groaned as she sat up. "Guys?"

Pearl rubbed her gem as she stood up. "I am here."

"As am I." Garnet was the next to stand up.

"What happened?" Connie asked as sat up.

Peridot groaned as she rubbed her head. "I believe the orb somehow activated by itself."

"Who are you?!"

The Gems, including Lapis who jumped as someone shouted from right behind them and they spun around to see…

"Is that a floating lizard?" Amethyst asked.

The so-called floating lizard had green scales with a T-Rex like face without legs, somehow floating in the air, three clawed hands, and wore purple and gold garments with a plumed cowl and had a scarab shaped pendent on his chest.

"I don't know who you are but either buy something or get out!" The lizard snapped. "This is my shop, not a hotel!"

"Your shop?" Connie asked.

"Yes, my shop. It's where I sell things. Food, maps, and unique items. Oh and there's the exit." The lizard pointed behind the Gems. "Now if you have scarabs you can buy almost anything here. If you have nothing then get out! And put that down! You have to buy that!"

Pearl picked up orb that had been put on display and glared at the lizard. "This belongs to us! I am not paying for something you basically stole."

"Stole?! Get out! Keep the stupid thing! Just get out my shop!" The lizard snapped.

"Gladly." Amethyst muttered as the Gems and Connie walked to the exit. "That guy apparently hasn't heard of customer service."

"Still, I would have liked to ask how he floats in the air like that." Peridot mumbled as they walked through a small cave and came upon a wall that they had to climb to get out of the cave. "Are organics capable of self-energy control and manipulation like Gems?"

When they got out of the cave they were surprised by what awaited them outside.

It was a valley with steep sides surrounded by thick evergreen trees. A small stream swept through it while trees garnished the landscape above the lush grass. The place was also abundant in flowers and spring life, basking in the frequent rainstorms that keep the flora fresh and colorful.

But that wasn't the biggest surprise.

"Are those dinosaurs?!" Connie gaped as she and the Gems spotted creatures all across the valley, resembling if Connie remembered correctly a Nodosaurus. "But they're extinct!"

"What are dinosaurs?" Peridot asked.

"A bunch of animals that lived on Earth before the time of humans. They were wiped out before Homeworld tried colonize the planet." Pearl explained.

"Maybe a few survived." Amethyst suggested.

"But that's impossible. The Earth went through an ice age that killed any survivors off. They couldn't have survived the cold weather." Connie said, even though evidence was staring her in the eyes.

"Maybe they moved to another planet." Peridot suggested.

"They weren't sentient. They couldn't have built ships." Pearl replied.

"Then what is that ship doing there?" Peridot pointed to the other side of the stream, pointing at what definitely looked like a ship.

The front was pointed like a dart that traveled down to the cockpit and two wings that were folded back, colored mostly white while the engines were blue.

"Wow! It is a ship! Hey, maybe Peri is right! Maybe the dinosaurs moved off of Earth and came here!" Amethyst exclaimed in excitement. "Man, Steven would love it here!"

"But where is he? He should be nearby since the orb was here." Pearl frantically looked around. "Steven! Steven! Are you here?!"

Lapis sprouted her wings and flew up into the air, looking around the valley for any sign of Steven.

"Why not we ask the natives if they had seen him?" Peridot asked. "Surely they would remember Steven who would stand out as an unknown to them."

"Because dinosaurs can't talk." Connie answered as she called out for Steven with Pearl.

"They weren't supposed to build spaceships either." Amethyst said as she walked up to a nearby Nodosaurus. "Hey, have you seen a little kid around here?"

The Nodosaurus spoke which surprised Connie and the others, only it was a language that Amethyst didn't understand it. "Uh…Can anyone translate? I think it speaks French."

"That's not French." Garnet said as she walked up to Amethyst.

"This is impossible. The dinosaurs on Earth couldn't speak. They didn't have the same vocal cords as humans." Connie mumbled.

"Perhaps these 'dinosaurs' simply created their own 'vocal cords'." Peridot commented as she looked the dinosaur over.

"We still don't know their language." Garnet answered.

"Hello?"

The voice came behind them, back in the cave they came out of. The Gems turned around and were even more surprised to see a humanoid looking fox climb out of the cave.

He brushed some dirt off his green pants and white vest before speaking. "Were you the ones just in the shop?"

"…Yes?" Amethyst asked.

The fox held up his hands, showing he meant no harm. "Hey, I'm not looking for trouble. I just heard a lot of shouting while I was in the back of the shop and wondered what was going on. Are you new here?"

The Gems shared a quick glance before Garnet answered. "Yes. We're looking for someone who came here. Do you know where we are?"

The fox stared questionably at the Gems but answered. "Well we call it Sauria. The people here call it Dinosaur Planet…For obvious reasons. A planet on the edge of the Lylat System."

"Dinosaur Planet? As in a lot of dinosaurs living here?" Connie asked, having grown used to the surprise of speaking to an anthropomorphic fox since she hung out with Steven and the Gems a lot.

"Yep. All sorts of dinosaurs. You really are new here." The fox rubbed the back of his head. "You don't know about the trouble?"

"Trouble?" Pearl asked.

The fox held up a wrist device and projected the image of a planet, with large chunks floating around it. "This planet, large of chunks of it are being torn from the surface for some unknown reason. I was sent here to investigate why and possibly solve the problem. If the planet explodes the rest of Lylat could be in major trouble."

"And Steven's out there." Pearl gasped and clutched Garnet's arm. "We need to find him! He could be thrust out into space if we don't find him!"

"Do you know why the planet is being torn apart?" Garnet asked the fox.

"Sorry but no. I was just on my way to something called the Warpstone. The Queen of the Earthwalker Tribe's son has been kidnapped and taken to the Ice Mountain. If I save her son she can tell me what's going on with the planet." The fox explained.

"A Warpstone?" Connie and Peridot asked at the same time.

"Yeah, some sort of sentient rock that can warp people to other places of the planet. A really grumpy guy too. Kept on complaining that no one brought it any gifts anymore which was why I was in the shop. I got it something called rocky candy." The fox held out a square shaped mineral that was strange looking.

"A rock that eats? Cool!" Amethyst grinned.

"Amethyst, we don't have time for this! We need to find Steven!" Pearl said anxiously.

"Well maybe he can help us find Steven. I mean he's probably going all over the planet." Amethyst pointed out.

"Kind of, I guess. I just got here in my ship." The fox pointed at the ship on the other side of the stream.

"That's your ship?" Peridot asked, looking at the ship again.

"Yep. It's called an Arwing, the best fighter in the Lylat system." The fox said proudly. "Anyways, I haven't seen anyone aside from dinosaurs since I landed and my friend Slippy is working on a translator so I can speak properly with the locals."

"Really?" Peridot asked, now intrigued.

"Yep. If you want to ask someone who speaks English you can talk to the Warpstone and see if it helps after I give it a treat." The fox offered, pointing to where they could see a giant moving statue.

"I got to see this. A literal rock eating another rock." Amethyst grinned.

"But-"

"If this Warpstone can help we should ask." Garnet said, cutting Pearl off.

"So lead the way, Mr…"

"Fox McCloud."

The Gems and Connie thought over the name as Fox led them towards the Warpstone. The so-called Warpstone resembled a stone human with dressed as some sort of priest with a giant face.

"Wow. He looks like Shrek." Amethyst couldn't help but comment as Fox jumped onto the small island it resided on.

The stone looked down at him and shouted with a loud Scottish accent. "What you are doing back here? Still demanding my help without nothing to show for it? Typical youngsters. Nobody ever brings me gifts anymore!"

"Whoa! Sounds Scottish!" Amethyst laughed. "Even more like Shrek!"

"What's this Shrek you keep on talking about?" Peridot asked.

"Not now." Pearl said as Fox held out the rock candy.

That seemed to get the Warpstone's attention.

"Aaaah…A lovely sweetie!" He leaned down and grabbed the treat, placing it in his mouth and gave a big smile. "Hmmm…"

He savored the taste but noticed Fox and the Gems staring at him so he stood up. "Who dares bother the mighty Warpstone? A thousand years I've been left alone to rest." The ground beneath Fox rose up like a platform. "What do you want?"

"Errrh….Well…Can you help us?" Fox asked.

The Warpstone laughed and coughed at the same time. "Help you? No!"

"But you're a Warpstone. You're supposed to help!" Fox said.

The Warpstone looked surprised and then thoughtful. "Ah…Right, let's see if I can remember what I'm supposed to do. Okay, if you want to step onto my left hand I can send you to the Ice Mountain and if you go on my right I can send you to Krazoa Palace but I am not so sure on the last one yet. Now, you know what I do so hurry up and make your choice! If not then leave and I can get back to sleep!"

"I need to go to Ice Mountain to help the Earthwalker Prince and these guys…" Fox glanced at the Gems.

Garnet stepped forward. "We too are looking for someone who is new to this world. Have you seen a non-dinosaur creature like us? He would have looked young."

The Warpstone shook his head. "Nope. Ain't seen no lost one around here."

"Well that's a waste of time." Amethyst groaned.

"Waste of time?! Who do you think you're talking to you little grape?! Nothing on this planet is beyond my ability to warp anyone to!" The Warpstone shouted, his angered voice echoing throughout the forest. "I'm a Warpstone, not an Eye-Stone!"

Pearl quickly got in front of Amethyst. "She didn't mean any offense. We're just really…Worried about our friend."

"Well, if you want to go looking for someone on other parts of this planet. I can send you to Ice Mountains to look but for the moment Krazoa Palace is off the table. It's a sacred place to the dinosaurs here and they don't like anyone just showing up." The Warpstone said.

"Well, I need to go to Ice Mountain." Fox spoke up. "So I just step onto your left hand?"

"That's the idea."

Fox looked at the Gems. "You want to come along?"

"Should we?" Amethyst asked. "We don't even know if Steven is at this Ice Mountain."

"We have to start somewhere and if Steven is up there he will be freezing." Garnet said, earning surprised looks from the Gems.

Pearl gasped. "By stars, you're right! He could be freezing to death!"

"He's a Gem too. He could adapt to the colder temperature." Peridot pointed out.

"He could but he would still be alone in the cold." Connie replied. "And I don't have anything to keep me warm so I can't come."

"You and Peridot are not coming." Garnet said, surprising the two. "Connie, you have training but you are right about the cold and Peridot, you don't have enough experience to go with us on dangerous missions on an unknown planet."

Peridot frowned but nodded. "You're right. I would be of no use on a mission like this."

"But we can't leave them here alone." Pearl pointed out and looked at Amethyst. "Amethyst, you stay with them."

"What?! I wanna help!" Amethyst exclaimed.

"I know but you're needed here too. Me, Garnet and…Lapis." Pearl looked at the blue Gem who stared back silently. "Will go with Fox and see if Steven is there."

"I got something that might help them." Fox offered as he walked up to the Gems and offered a small device. "This communicator contacts my team in our ship in orbit of the planet. You can contact them and learn more about the planet. You can even keep in contact with us. Just stay near the Arwing and Slippy can send you stuff if you need anything."

Peridot accepted the communicator. "…Thank you."

"Are you ready to warp?" The Warpstone asked impatiently.

Garnet, Pearl, and Lapis followed Fox back onto the island and the small platform rose up to the Warpstone's face. They stepped onto the left hand and the Warpstone held it up. Peridot, Connie, and Amethyst watched as the four vanished in a flash of light.


	4. Chapter 4

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

 **Prince Tricky**

* * *

One second Pearl, Garnet, and Lapis were on the hand of the giant living rock known as the Warpstone with their new supposed ally Fox McCloud and the next second they felt like they were being hurled through space and time. Finally they felt like they were on solid ground again or rather as a gloating platform that Fox was the first to step off.

"Everyone okay?" Fox asked, looking at the Gems.

"Yeah, we're good." Pearl nodded as she stepped off. "I've never been warped like that before. I guess the Warpstone lived up to its name." She looked around and saw they were in a cave. "Did we make it? Are we at this Ice Mountain?"

"Looks like it. One way to find out." Fox said and led the Gems out of the cave to see where they had ended up.

The so-called Ice Mountain was thoroughly covered with thick snow, skeletal trees, and domed with layered clouds. A chilling breeze greeted Fox but he had protection while the Gems barely noticed it. They were more focused on the two creatures up ahead waving at a spaceship that hovered above. A hatch on the bottom of the ship opened up and down came a small dinosaur suspended in an energy field.

"That's an Earthwalker. I guess he's the prince." Fox whispered.

"An Earthwalker?" Pearl mumbled. "Well, I guess since on Earth they were called Triceratops it figures they would have a different name for themselves. Who are those other creatures? They don't look like any dinosaur I've seen before."

They might be considered Velociraptors if not for the fact that they had human like arms with fingers.

Technically sharp clawed fingers but fingers nonetheless.

"They're called Sharpclaw." Fox said, looking at the two dinosaurs that poked the little dinosaur with their maces that soon evolved to punches and kicks as they chased him towards a door that opened and closed behind them. "They've been a pain since I landed and I think they might have a connection to the planet's problems."

Lapis narrowed her eyes at the way the young Earthwalker was treated. "He's young…Perhaps as a young as Steven."

Garnet and Pearl shared a glance, surprised by Lapis speaking since after being free from Malachite she rarely ever spoke but she did have a point. That was a young dinosaur, perhaps as young as Steven and the way those Sharpclaw were treating was inexcusable. They had seen this kind of behavior before, inflicted on Gems during the war on Earth and seeing those Sharpclaw brought back some bad memories.

"We need to find a way to open the door." Fox said once the coast was clear.

"Leave that to him." Garnet summoned her gauntlets and walked up to the door.

Fox watched as she reared her fist back and with one punch knocked it down. Inside the two Sharpclaw spun around, seeing Garnet at the door with her gauntlets, ready for a fight.

"Let him go." Garnet said calmly.

One of the Sharpclaw spoke but Garnet didn't understand his language.

"We're here to take the prince home." Fox answered their possible questions, believing they were asking who he and the Gems were.

The Sharpclaw growled as they advanced forward, brandishing their maces. Fox and Pearl pulled out their weapons, the Gems noting the staff Fox carried, and heard a sound behind them. Three more Sharpclaw had appeared behind them, ready to fight.

"Just let the prince go and there won't be any need for a fight." Pearl said, keeping her spear.

Unfortunately the Sharpclaw did not see it that way and attacked. The two in front lunged at Garnet who blocked their maces with her gauntlets and kicked one in the chest, sending him flying into the wall and quickly punched the other one in the face, knocking him back as well. Pearl quickly blocked one and performed a spinning kick to her opponent who fell to the ground but got up a second later. Fox unleashed multiple slashes with his staff, hitting his Sharpclaw opponent several times before he was knocked out.

As for Lapis she summoned her water wings and turned them into hands, grapping the Sharpclaw that chose to fight her and sent him flying through the air down the mountain. In all the confusion the small Earthwalker snuck past the fighting and made a break for it down the mountain.

Fox noticed the prince running for it. "Hey wait!"

Two more Sharpclaw came out of the cave on two high-tech bike like vehicles, smashing through the gate as they chased after the small Earthwalker.

"Oh no!" Fox looked inside the cave and saw the speeder, but he was reluctant to leave the Gems on their own.

"Just go, Fox." Garnet said as she knocked another Sharpclaw out. "We'll catch up with you. We need to check if Steven is in the prison."

Fox was still reluctant but he nodded and ran into the cave, hopping onto the speeder and a second later he shot down the mountain.

The Gems had quickly taken care of the Sharpclaw and went inside the cave, seeing a prison full of captured dinosaurs.

"Steven? Steven are you here?" Pearl called out, checking each and every cell. "He's not here…He's not here!"

"Hmm." Garnet sighed sadly but began opening the cells to let the dinosaurs out.

"Garnet, what are you doing?" Pearl asked.

"Steven wouldn't want these dinosaurs to stay here. If he saw this he would be trying to free them." Garnet answered simply.

Lapis looked around, seeing the trapped dinosaurs in cells and cages and thought back to when she was a prisoner and how Steven was the one who freed her. She couldn't stand by and watch as people, creatures, or whatever they are were become prisoners of those brutes. It reminded her too much of Homeworld and knew Garnet was right about Steven. So she quickly opened up every cage and cell, letting the dinosaurs out who then seemingly thanked her in whatever language they spoke.

Lapis simply nodded and watched them race out of the cave.

"No sign of Steven." Pearl said, looking miserable.

"We knew it would be a long shot but we took it anyways. At least there is one less place to look now. There are more places to search." Garnet said, remaining calm. "Let's meet up with Fox. Hopefully he has rescued the prince and we will find our answers."

The trek down Ice Mountain took half a day for the Gems as Lapis flew around the mountain just in case Steven was actually there. When it became clear that he wasn't the Gems continued on towards the bottom where they found several wrecked speeders.

"Fox must have stopped them from recapturing the prince." Pearl noted the many dent marks on the speeders.

The trail led down to a hot spring and continued on into a snowy valley with a bitter landscape that was dominated by freezing, ice-ridden rivers, subzero temperatures, and a consistent dry atmosphere along with an endless snowfall. It was here they came across a tribe of creatures that was also famous on Earth and extinct.

"Those are Mammoths." Pearl whispered, watching as one of them ate a root like vegetable. "Those are extinct too like the dinosaurs. They were wiped out before the Rebellion."

"Hey guys!"

The three Gems spotted Fox waving near a cave with a large Sharpclaw guarding it and next to him was the young Earthwalker prince.

"There he is." Garnet said as she walked forward with Pearl and Lapis.

"I don't suppose you found your friend." Fox said skeptically.

"No, he wasn't there." Pearl shook her head sadly.

"You guys looking for someone?" The Gems looked down at the young Earthwalker who smiled. "Hi, I'm Prince Tricky."

"You-you speak our language?" Pearl asked, surprised she was hearing English.

"Oh, the translator Slippy was working on was finished when I found him. Stay close to me and you can understand him." Fox explained with a smile. "He's working on replicating the translator for all of you."

"That won't be necessary, Fox. If you allow me," Garnet held up a hand and touched Fox's communicator where there was a flash of light from her gems. "All right. I understand now."

"You touch my communicator and you understand?" Fox asked as Garnet placed a hand on Pearl's forehead gem.

"It's a special talent." Garnet said with a small smile.

The last was Lapis who said nothing as she held out her hand for Garnet to touch.

"Who are these ladies, Fox?" Tricky asked.

"We're the Crystal Gems and we're searching for someone who is lost on this planet." Pearl answered as she knelt down in front of Tricky. "Someone who would look kind of like us but smaller and younger, around the same size as you. We're worried sick about him."

"Well, I haven't seen anyone looking like you three but let's hope the Sharpclaw haven't caught him. They're a bunch of nasty jerks. And these Snowhorns but they are a lot nicer." Tricky replied.

"Snowhorns? Oh, that's they are called here." Pearl said thoughtfully, glancing at a nearby Mammoth. "That's…Kind of appropriate in a way."

"Well let's get you home now. Your mother is probably worried sick about you." Fox said, gesturing to the cave. "I paid the guy there Scarabs to let us pass so we won't have to worry about him."

"Let's go then." Garnet said.


	5. Chapter 5

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

 **Plight of Sauria**

* * *

"Wow. You really have an impressive grasp on these mechanics."

Amethyst glanced over her shoulder, watching as Peridot conversed with the floating head that resembled a toad that, funny enough, was named Slippy Toad. Connie was listening as well, asking Slippy a few questions about the Lylat system, the apparent system Dinosaur Planet was part of. Connie asked about the planets and people while Peridot asked about the technology and mechanics. Slippy was all too happy to talk to the two of them, answering their questions one at a time and trading a few ideas with Peridot who conversed with him about Gem technology.

Amethyst only half listened to the nerd talk, rather waiting for the others to return, hopefully with Steven.

" _Ah, it's not so complicated when you get used to it. My dad's head of the Cornerian R &D department and they come up with new ideas all the time. Dad's working on a warp gate that, if it works, could send any ship to any place in the galaxy_." Slippy said with a laugh.

"Really? Your 'dad' can understand the mechanics and physics of such a device?" Peridot asked, intrigued.

" _Yep. Corneria's the best planet in the universe for thinking of new ideas._ "

"So…How does the son of a scientist join a mercenary team if you don't mind me asking?" Connie questioned.

" _Fox is a good friend of mine and when he and Peppy were making a new Star Fox team he asked me and I said yes._ "

"A new Star Fox team?" Connie asked.

" _Well, it's a long story but Peppy along with Fox's dad were the original founders of the Star Fox team. I'd tell you but I don't want to tell too much of Fox's history without his permission. I'll tell you that it's been a good while since we've had a big job and we need the money that's being offered to repair our ship. A lot of our equipment is not as good as it used to be._ " Slippy said, taking a careful note to be mindful.

"Hmm…" Peridot looked thoughtful. "And you believe your leader can repair this planet?"

" _If anyone can do it, Fox can. The Star Fox team is called upon to do the impossible and we never fail._ "

"Slippy, is it possible that you can find out friend? He's human like me but also half Gem like the others so if your scanners can pick us up maybe you can find Steven." Connie suggested.

As Slippy thought if over Peridot glance at Connie, looking impressed and wondered why she had not thought of it sooner.

" _It could work but it would take a while. I'm tracking Fox who is coming back to the Hollow and I think the others are with him. I'd need to scan the Gems to get an accurate reading of them to understand what I'm looking for._ "

"Why not scan me?" Peridot asked, earning the attention back to her. "Scan me and you'll have the basic signature of a Gem."

"How about we wait on that?" Amethyst spoke up. "I don't think Garnet and Pearl would like that."

"It's not like they'd be learning anything dangerous. I don't know how to summon my weapon, fuse, or shapeshift like you and the others so even if Slippy does scan me he won't learn anything dangerous." Peridot protested Amethyst's decision.

"Yeah but let's wait and talk to Garnet and Pearl about it first." Amethyst held up both hands to avoid a fight.

It's not that Amethyst was wanting to be distrustful but they really didn't know much about Slippy, Fox, and the so-called Star Fox team to warrant letting them scan a Gem, even Peridot who herself admitted she was of no possible threat if they scanned. Even if Connie and Peridot had spent the last half of the day socializing with Slippy it was too soon to completely trust them.

"Very well." Peridot sighed in disappointment but didn't argue with Amethyst anymore on the subject. "So Slippy, what do you know about this Dinosaur Planet?"

" _Well, we haven't had much contact considering it's on the very edge of the Lylat System and we've been busy in the fast several years. It's considered technologically primitive but there have been reports that the planet has a deep mystic past._ "

"A mystic past?" Connie asked.

" _Well, legend has it that a race known as the Krazoa were responsible for the creation of the planet and that they were the ones who populated it with the dinosaurs. Legend has it that the Krazoa had the power to manipulate dark matter._ " Slippy explained.

"Really?!" Both Connie and Peridot exclaimed at the same time.

" _I know but the Krazoa seemingly vanished and since then have been worshiped as deities by the dinosaurs._ "

"This might explain why there are dinosaurs here. Maybe these Krazoa took them from Earth and brought them here." Connie stated in excitement. "Wow. Earth was visited by not one but two alien races!"

"It does seem to be the logical conclusion." Peridot admitted. "But why though? Why would these Krazoa do all this? Taking specimens from one plant and then bringing them to here? I don't see the reason."

" _Who knows. They disappeared long ago with only the shrines and temples they built left behind._ " Slippy answered.

"This getting curiouser and curiouser by the second." Peridot muttered.

Connie glanced at Peridot, at first not sure about being close to a Gem who tried to destroy the Earth at one time but Steven and the Gems trusted her, even going far to say she was one of them now, especially after disagreeing and insulting her former leader about the Earth's destruction. The more Connie listened the more Peridot sounded like a smart, if slightly obnoxious little kid than an evil Gem out to destroy the world. She just had to look everywhere in the valley and ask so many questions that Slippy was all too happy to answer. She didn't want to trust Peridot given her history but Steven and the Gems gave her a chance and it seemingly paid off so Connie was considering giving the little green Gem a chance as well.

After all Steven gave Lapis a chance after she stole the Earth's ocean and broke his dad's leg.

" _Oh and I got the translator working now so you should not understand the dinosaurs here._ " Slippy quickly said. " _The wrist communicator will help out a lot._ "

"Really?" Peridot held up the communicator. "How did you come up with one in such a short amount of time? The time taken to decode a foreign language much have been long."

" _It's not that hard. Plus the translator can help you learn new language in just a day if your patient._ " Slippy laughed.

Amethyst turned away and spotted Fox coming back into the valley with Pearl, Garnet, Lapis and a young triceratops. "Hey guys!"

Peridot and Connie looked up, spotting the others and rushed with Amethyst to meet them.

"Did you find Steven?" Amethyst asked but was saddened when Pearl shook her head.

"We looked all over the mountain but there was no sign of him." Pearl answered, staring miserably down at the ground.

"We will have to keep on looking." Garnet said, watching as Tricky ran towards a nearby shrine with Fox following him. "Let's stick close with Fox though, he might be able to help."

The Gems and Connie followed them into the shrine where they found a grown female Earthwalker but she didn't look well.

"What's wrong?" Pearl asked, hearing the Earthwalker groan.

"The Queen seems to be sick." Fox answered and looked at Tricky. "Is there anything we can do for her?"

"We need to find White GrubTub. My mom gives them to me when I'm not feeling well." Tricky answered.

"Where do we get those?" Fox asked. "I never saw white GrubTubs earlier."

"They're usually grown underground." Tricky answered.

"Looks like we'll need a lot. Let's take a look around." Fox said turning to face the Gems. "I'm not sure if I should be asking for help since you guys have your own problems and all…"

The Gems silently glanced at each other before looking at Garnet who nodded. "We'll help. She should know what's wrong with the planet. We need to know about this planet if we're going to find Steven."

"I know where to start." Tricky said and led them large, circular, stone structure near the entrance to the Snowhorn Wastes passage.

Tricky started to dig a tunnel through the dirt wall.

"Neat." Amethyst commented as Tricky came back out.

"This leads to an underground cavern where White GrubTrubs grow." Tricky said.

"All right. You stay here and we'll take a look." Fox said and was the first to go through.

"Pearl, can I please come along this time?" Connie asked.

Pearl was about to say no but Garnet answered. "You can come along. All of us should be able to find these White GrubTubs fast."

With that said one by one they all climbed down the ladder to the lower level and followed Fox into the next room directly in front of you. Looking at the small clearing in the middle of the water Fox saw a Bomb Spore planting patch. He planted a spore there and blew the plant up as quickly as it grew.

"Whoa!" Peridot commented as she and the others watch. "What was that?"

"The dinosaurs called it a Bomb Spore. Very explosive and releases spores as it explodes, growing more in a few seconds." Fox explained.

"Neat. We can have a few of these back home." Amethyst said with a grin.

"No thank you. The last thing we need is a garden full of exploding plants." Pearl quickly said, knowing what might happen if Amethyst got her hands on these Bomb Spores.

In the meantime water was drained and an entrance to an underground chamber was revealed.

"Whoa. Hang on. I found something." Fox walked over to the opening. "I'll be right back."

"Hey wait." Pearl called out but Fox jumped down the hole.

Fox landed on the floor and headed down to the lower level of the chamber, jumped to the platform in the middle, and held up the staff for the bolt of lightning to come down on it. Fox watched as the staff received a new power that was whispered in his mind: the Rocket Boost.

He left the chamber coming back up to find the Gems and Connie waiting for him.

"Where'd you go?" Amethyst asked.

Fox held out his staff. "There was a chamber below that gave this staff a new power."

"A new power?" Pearl asked.

"It's hard to explain but this staff is kind of like…Some sort of magical staff. I found it when I landed and it's got a few powers to it." Fox explained as best as he could.

Peridot walked up to the staff and looked it over. "It's certainly nothing like any Gem designed weapon I've ever seen and yet it does seem to be something a Gem would make."

"Well, I don't think a Gem made this." Fox said as he put the staff away. "Let's keep going."

The group headed back to the first room on the lower level. Fox saw a small, gray pad in the northwest part of the room. Fox walked up to it and pulled out his staff and plunged it into a ground. The Gems were wondering what he was doing and watched as he was rocketed up higher ground.

"Whoa!" Amethyst and Peridot said at the same time.

"I'm guessing this is the new power he received." Pearl commented to Garnet and Lapis who remained silent.

"Need a hand?" Fox called down.

"We'll be up on a second." Garnet said as she picked up Connie and Peridot and jumped up with Amethyst and Pearl while Lapis flew up with her wings.

Once at the upper ledge, the group followed the path to the next room. They stopped at the "bridge" between the two upper ledges and in the middle was a Bomb Spore planting patch. Fox planted a spore there and blew up the plant. A block dropped from that bridge and down the ground where the water used to be.

"I think I know what that block is for." Fox pointed at a black switch in the shallow water.

"I got it." Garnet jumped down to the lower level and pushed the block to the black switch near the gate.

The gate opened and inside was a lone Thorntail in the center of the room. "Whose there?! Come out and show yourself!"

"Do you know where we can find some White GrubTub?" Garnet asked.

"Down there but you got to be as crazy as me to go down there without a light! I came here and got myself locked in!" The Thorntail laughed as he moved aside.

Once he moved, Garnet saw that he was sitting on a Bomb Spore planting patch. Once Fox and the others arrived he planted a spore there and blew the plant up. A large hole was now where the ground had been with a ladder for them to climb down to the level below. Upon entering cavern below Pearl and Peridot shined a light and Fox spotted first White Grubtub to the left, beside a mushroom.

He quickly used his staff to tun it and collect it. "One down a bunch more to go."

The group headed down the trail to a four-way intersection of paths.

"Which way?" Amethyst asked.

"Do we split up?" Connie asked.

Garnet kept going straight and took the dark path to the left. She found the second White GrubTub and quickly grabbed it. The Gems made the search much easier and five minutes later they found a bunch of White GrubTubs and took them back to the shrine where the Queen Earthwalker was still resting.

Fox slowly fed them to her and she slowly got better until she was well enough to stand. "Thank you…Thank you all for saving my son and saving me."

"Yeah, no problem. But can you tell us what's going on?" Fox asked.

The Queen Earthwalker frowned. "This is all the work of General Scales. He is the ruler of the Sharpclaw, a nasty bunch of pirates that have always wanted to rule Dinosaur Planet. In the past we'd always been able to stop his attacks but this time his army was much stronger and defeated our army at the Krazoa Palace."

"Right. A bad guy. But how did the planet get in such mess?" Fox asked as he and the Crystal Gems listened.

"Within the Krazoa Palace he broke the seals on the Force Point Temples." The Queen Earthwalker answered.

"We're all listening." Fox encouraged her.

"This planet is rich in a magical force. A force so powerful that it continually pushing the planet apart. To stop this, four Spelltones were placed inside the Force Point Temples."

"Okay, that's a bit weird but I understand." Fox said, working to keep up.

"With the seals broken, Scales entered the temples and removed the SpellStones. With nothing to stop magic force, the planet was torn apart!" The Queen Earthwalker finished.

"At last! It all makes sense! So, the bad guy takes the SpellStones, your planet falls apart, and I've got to FIND the SpellStones, and bring them back to the Force Point Temples." Fox said, connecting the points together.

"See Mom. I told you he was good. Star Fox… yeah!" Tricky said in excitement.

"My son will remain with you. For only a dinosaur of noble birth can breathe life into the SpellStones." The Queen smiled.

"What? Uh that's Ok, but don't you think he's a bit… young? I mean it's going to be very dangerous… Loads of bad guys, fighting, death!" Fox said, not wanting a kid to tag along with him.

"He knows the planet well. And I'm sure he's shown you his Sidekick skills." The Queen said calmly.

"Oh, yeah… I forgot about those." Fox admitted.

"C'mon, Fox, we'll make a great team!" Tricky pointed out/

"OK, but if you mess up just once, I'll send you straight back to Mommy!" Fox said with a sigh.

"OK, yeah. Yeah!" Tricky agreed happily.

"Good. Now, our spies have indicated that Scales was last seen in DarkIce Mines. I know the GateKeeper, Garunda Te, a silly fellow, but he can guide you to the SpellStone. Go back to the SnowHorn Wastes and find him." The Queen said.

"Got it!" Fox nodded.

"And Fox. I think you'll this. The SharpClaws dropped it when they attacked me. Maybe it'll come in use somewhere?" The Queen held out a key for Fox.

"OK, enough already. Can I just get on with it?" Fox accepted the key.

"And you all, are you here to help us?" The Queen asked, looking at the Gems.

Garnet decided to speak for them. "We came here looking for a friend who is lost somewhere on this planet. He would have looked somewhat like us, a non-dinosaur. Can you help us?"

"I know of no non-dinosaurs aside from you all. But if he is on this planet he can be here or somewhere on one of the floating lands. The powers of the Gatekeepers keep the floating lands alive and protected from losing their atmosphere in space. I can only say that I hope the Sharpclaw have not found him." The Queen answered.

Pearl sighed. "So we might have to search the floating lands as well."

"At the very least we know what is wrong with the planet. It makes it easier to know if he was up there he would still be alive." Peridot quickly pointed out.

"Then I know where to go." Lapis said as she sprouted her wings and flew up into the sky.

"Lapis wait!" Pearl called out but the blue Gem vanished into the sky. "She could at least have taken something so we could communicate with her."

"Your friend will not be able to enter the floating lands without the powers of the Gatekeeper to let her in. The barriers will keep her out." The Queen said to the Gems.

"So we need a Gatekeeper to enter each land." Connie surmised.

"How does an organic such powers?" Peridot asked.

"From each tribe a dinosaur gained the powers of the Gatekeeper from the Spellstones in the Force Point temples and passed it down each generation. It is this power that makes them a target for Scales but he can't kill them because he would then lose their powers." The Queen answered.

"Then we must find this Gatekeeper. We must search every corner of this planet to find Steven." Garnet looked to Fox. "The Crystal Gems are with you, Fox."

"Well, we better get moving." Fox looked at Connie. "Let's call Slippy and have him send down some winter stuff for you. You're going to need if you're coming along."


	6. Chapter 6

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

( **Garunda Te's Plight** )

* * *

Slippy sent had down winter gear for Connie, consisting of a blue outfit similar to Fox along with a winter coat and boats that fit Connie perfectly. Now that Connie was ready for the cold weather the Gems and Fox traveled back through the tunnel leading to Snowhorn Wastes. Connie was given a sword by Pearl to properly defend herself and with Garnet's help Connie along with Peridot, Fox, and Tricky avoided having to swim through stream between them and the other end. When they emerged on the other side the Wastes had changed very little since they had last left.

"Wow. They are Mammoths!" Connie gasped upon seeing the Snowhorns. "They are extinct on our planet along with the dinosaurs."

"So which one of them is the Gatekeeper?" Peridot asked.

"I don't think any of the ones we met earlier is the Gatekeeper. They would have told us before." Pearl commented thoughtfully.

Fox looked at a nearby gate with a lock. "I think I know where he might be."

Fox took out the key the Earthwalker Queen gave him and used it to unlock the gate. The Gems followed him as they same upon the bottom of a snowy hill and walked up to see a large pond of ice with a Mammoth's sticking out of it.

"Hurry boy! Over here!" A voice called out from under the ice.

"Someone's stuck under the ice." Tricky said as he ran up to the nose.

"The SharpClaw have imprisoned me in this infernal cave. If you can bring me FrostWeeds, I'll be strong enough to get myself out. Perhaps the young prince can help you. Hurry boy!" The Snowhorn said from under the ice.

"Or we can just smash the ice open." Amethyst said, cracking a fist.

"We have other problems." Garnet pointed up, seeing Sharpclaw coming straight for them.

The Sharpclaw, upon seeing the intruders, rushed forward and attacked. The Gems along with Fox quickly defended themselves and fought back.

"We got to get the Snowhorn out of there!" Tricky said Connie and Peridot who hanged back.

"But where do we go FrostWeeds?" Connie asked.

Tricky pointed at the tree down below. "Whack that tree and the weeds will fall out."

Connie and Peridot followed Tricky to the tree and watched as the Earthwalker prince slammed his head into the tree, causing a few weeds to fall out. "I'll get them up to the Snowhorn. You keep knocking more out."

Connie and Peridot nodded as Tricky started herding the FrostWeeds to the hole in the ice, allowing the trapped Snowhorn to grab them. In the meantime Connie and Peridot kicked and whacked the tree, causing more weeds to fall out while the Gems and Fox took out the attacking Sharpclaw, knocking them out.

Just as Tricky got the last weed in the Snowhorn let out a roar as he smashed through the ice and crawled up out of the hole.

"Aaah, the young prince!" The Snowhorn said upon seeing Tricky. "Err who are these with you?"

"These are my friends, Fox McCloud and the Crystal Gems. My mother sent us to find you." Tricky proudly answered.

"Well I am Garunda Te. SpellStone GateKeeper of DarkIce Mines." The Snowhorn introduced himself.

"We're looking for a SpellStone." Tricky said.

"A SpellStone? Hmmmm… It is my duty as a GateKeeper to guard the land from which a SpellStone is forged. General Scales took the SpellStone, and discovered that I was a GateKeeper." Garunda Te stated. "He gave me an ultimatum. Allow him to take the SpellStone back into the sacred land, or he would destroy my tribe. I could not risk the safety of the entire planet, so I refused to help. My daughter did not think this way." Garunda Te said, his voice now becoming saddened and pained. "And so to save the tribe, she opened the gateway herself. Scales did not destroy my tribe, he enslaved them instead. My daughter dishonored me. You must search for the SpellStone within DarkIce Mines and return it, to the Volcano Force Point Temple. Only then, will the SpellStone's power return." Garunda Te took a deep breath. "I will open the gateway."

Garunda Te lifted his head and from his mouth came a burst of light that shot into the sky, forming a vortex.

Fox's communicator rang and Slippy appeared when Fox answered. " _We're detecting a large energy surge and it's connected with one of the floating lands in orbit of the planet. Check Peppy's maps and you'll see where it is._ "

"Use your flying contraption to reach DarkIce Mines." Garunda Te stated.

"Thank you for the help." Fox nodded as he looked at the Gems. "Well, we have a destination."

"And hopefully we'll find Steven up there." Pearl replied and sighed. "I just wish Lapis would have waited. Do you think she'll reach these DarkIce Mines now?"

"Hard to say but if she doesn't go through the gate she might not be able to reach it." Fox answered. "I'm more concerned about how I'm going to get you all up there. The Arwing could handle me in the cockpit and Tricky in the cargo hold but there's five of you."

"We can just shrink ourselves down." Amethyst said and shapeshifted into a chicken. "Buck-buck!"

"You three could do that. But I don't know how to shapeshift yet." Peridot pointed out.

"And I can't do that either." Connie said.

"Hmmm…You two can sit with me in the cockpit but you have to try to not distract me. There's a lot of asteroids between the planet and the floating landmasses." Fox stated.

Peridot and Connie nodded as they began leaving Snowhorn Wastes.


	7. Chapter 7

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

( **DarkIce Mines** )

* * *

"You sure you can handle this, Fox?" Connie asked as she and Peridot sat on Fox's lap in the cockpit of the Arwing.

"Just try not to move." Fox said as the hatch closed.

Tricky was in the cargo hold of the Arwing while Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl all changed into little versions of themselves and sat on Connie and Peridot's shoulders.

"Here we go!" Fox said as the Arwing lifted off the ground and shot into the sky.

"Wow!" Peridot and Connie said as the Arwing cleared the atmosphere in a matter of seconds.

A moment later the Arwing was in orbit of Dinosaur Planet.

"This ship is amazing. It's easily on par with a Homeworld scout ship." Peridot said, looking down at the planet and seeing the torn landscapes and asteroids surrounding it.

"I've been to outer space…" Connie trailed off as she looked at the planet. "This poor planet. Steven would probably be looking for a way to help put it back together."

The Gems shared an uneasy look but knew Connie was right.

Fox tapped a switch on the controls and Slippy appeared on the holo-display. "What's the word, Slip?"

" _The SnowHorn tribe is in great danger. General Scales has enslaved them to work in the DarkIce Mines. If you can locate the Gatekeeper's daughter, she will be able to help you. Free the SnowHorns by finding that SpellStone!_

 _It's up to you, Fox! Slippy out!_ "

Fox nodded and angled the Arwing in direction of the landscape known as DarkIce Mines. His scanners picked up the energy vortex leading through the force field and traveled through it.

"Hey look!" Amethyst pointed up.

Everyone looked up and saw Lapis Lazuli flying beside them.

"Lapis." Connie said as the ship entered the atmosphere.

"She had a day's start on us. Why is she up here?" Amethyst asked.

"She probably couldn't get through the force field until the Gatekeeper opened it." Fox mused as her searched for a place to land.

The Arwing was set down in a cave with hot lava at the bottom and a narrow bridge leading outside the cave.

"You couldn't have picked a safer spot, Fox?" Pearl asked as Fox stepped out of the cockpit.

"We're not exactly in a safe place, Pearl." Fox said as he helped Connie and Peridot out of the cockpit while the other Gems returned to their normal size. "Not only can the ground support the Arwing but it's not too close any enemy camping. We can't let them get their hands on our only means of transportation."

"A logical explanation." Peridot admitted.

"Yes but Connie isn't as durable as a Gem. You know what could happen if she fell into the lava?" Pearl asked.

"The same thing that could happen to me or Tricky, Pearl. But it's not like I expected to be taking so many people." Fox shook his head.

"It's all right. So as long as Connie is with us we won't let anything happen." Garnet looked up and saw Lapis land down in front of them. "You mad it, Lapis."

"How did you get through the force field?" Lapis answered, still frowning.

"We found someone to open it. You would have known if you had stuck around." Amethyst retorted.

"Hey come on, guys. Please no fighting right now. We have people to help. Steven could be here, enslaved with the SnowHorns!" Connie interjected.

"Enslaved?" Lapis questioned.

"Yes. It seems the SnowHorns here are being put to work in the mines of this land by the Sharpclaw leader General Scales. It is also where the so-called Spellstone is and if Steven is here he is no doubt in danger too." Peridot quickly explained.

"So we better get moving." Fox said as he walked towards the entrance.

Lapis scowled but remained silent as she followed the others out of the cave. Outside was a small village populated by SnowHorn and Sharpclaw with the Sharpclaw patrolling the village and the SnowHorn either forced to move or left in chains. Lapis narrowed her eyes at the sight of how the SnowHorn were being treated. It was enough she summoned the small bits of water scattered across the village and used them to take down the Sharpclaw.

"Holy smokes." Peridot whispered in surprise.

"Yeah." Connie said in actual agreement.

Fox looked around and saw a chained SnowHorn. "We better ask where to go."

Garnet nodded as she followed Fox up to the chained SnowHorn and easily broke the chain around her leg.

"Thank you for releasing me. If you're heading down into the mine, then please look out for Belina Te, the GateKeeper's daughter. She didn't mean to get us into this mess by telling Scales about the SpellStone. She did what she thought was right." The SnowHorn, a female SnowHorn said. "Please help her."

"Okay, lady. I'll keep a lookout for her." Fox replied.

"This might be of some use to you. I found it while I was working. It looked important so I hid it from the SharpClaw." The SnowHorn produced what looked like a Cog.

"Thanks." Fox accepted the strange but possibly useful gift.

The group continued along the path and stopped at the river.

"No bridge." Fox commented but saw something behind the waterfall. "But look there."

He jumped down and landed on a platform, seeing a set of more cogs. He placed the one he was given next to the others and pulled the lever. The cogs began turning making a bridge appear.

"That's convenient." Amethyst said as Fox climbed back up and crossed the bridge.

They then follow the path, stopping to see SnowHorn being menaced by SharpClaws.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Connie shouted, unable to stay calm at the sight of someone being bullied so badly.

The three Sharpclaw turned and looked at the intruders before deciding to attack them instead. Unfortunately they picked the wrong group to fight as Garnet made short work of them.

The injured SnowHorn groaned as he lifted his head up. "I am forever in your debt. I see your little friend has yet to learn his Flame Command."

"Flame Command?" Amethyst asked, looking at Tricky who looked embarrassed.

"Go on, youngster, give it a go!" The SnowHorn said.

Tricky nodded and took a deep breath before releasing a stream of fire from his mouth.

"Whoa! He can breathe fire?!" Amethyst exclaimed.

"I didn't know Triceratops could do that!" Connie gasped in surprise.

"If I wasn't so exhausted, I could help you through the main gates. I need some food." The SnowHorn said. "If you find Alphine Root it would be a big help."

"Do we really have time for this?" Pearl asked.

"Steven would want us to help." Garnet said. "We won't be around to protect anyone when we go into the mines."

"Well these roots would be grown underground." Fox pointed out. "There are few places back in the village we could look"

They went back across the bridge, then approach the first structure on the left. Using his Flame Command Tricky melted the ice, allowing them to go inside and Fox had Tricky light the pile of wood on fire. Once the ice melted, and a hole was revealed. Fox jumped in and went into the other side of the room.

Fox had Tricky melt the ice, then went in to have him dig up an Alpine Root. Garnet took ice block and moved it into the area they came in from, then climb out. Going across the bridge again they came into an area with rolling snowballs. Garnet punched through any snowballs as they climbed the hill, and turned left at the end.

Tricky melted the ice stopping, then he dug up the second Alpine Root.

Once they had enough they returned to the SnowHorn and fed him the roots.

"I feel much better now." The SnowHorn said as he got up. "Got on my back! Let's smash those gates!"

Fox, Connie and Peridot climbed up the ladder onto the wooden platform behind the SnowHown and hopped onto his back. SnowHorn, moved forward through the blizzard as he came to the gates and smashed them right open.

"Look!" Pearl pointed to the far side of the area they came into and saw a cannon aimed at them.

"I got it!" Amethyst laughed as she morphed into a helicopter and flew up to the cannon before changing back into her original form. "Banzai!"

She fell onto of the Sharpclaw at the controls, knocking him out. The doors of the building in the center of the area opened up a lot of SharpClaws will come out of the building.

"Look!" Peridot pointed at the incoming Sharpclaw.

Garnet summoned her gauntlets while Pearl summoned her spear and Lapis summoned her water wings. Fox pulled out his staff and they leapt forward, taking down the Sharpclaw thugs in record time. Once all the SharpClaws were down, a Life-Force Door opened at the other end of the area.

"Neat." Amethyst said as she jumped down.

Fox went through the door and found a container inside. He used his staff to open it up and found another cog inside.

"Another cog?" Pearl asked as Fox showed it to them.

"Knowing the Sharpclaw they probably want to keep entrance to the mines sealed." Fox commented as he looked at a wooden barricade nearby. "I think where to go next."

Garnet used her strength to break a wooden barricade and looked inside while Fox entered the SharpClaw building to get the second cog. With the three cogs Fox led the others to where the barricade was, then followed the path and climbed the slope to the left. They went to the far wall, then had Tricky melt the ice, and found the third cog.

"So where do they go?" Amethyst asked.

"Probably near river." Fox led them to the river where there was a Rocket Boot pad that led up into a cave and inside was a wall with gears but missing three pieces.

One by one they placed the three cogs in the gears on the wall and Pearl pulled the handle. They went back and crossed the newly revealed bridge. One the other side Tricky dug a hole in the crack in the far wall and one by one they crawled after him. From there on the Gems and Fox had to travel through a blizzard with Amethyst morphing into a Snowhorn that carried Fox, Connie, and Peridot through it until they reached a tunnel with a bike at the entrance.

"A hoverbike? Cool!" Amethyst said as she morphed back to her normal form.

"This tunnel must lead down into the mines." Pearl said, looking down the tunnel.

"And this bike could take us down." Fox said, looking at the bike.

"Fox, you take Connie and Peridot with you. We'll follow." Garnet picked up Tricky as Fox hopped onto the bike with Connie and Peridot behind him.

They made it down the tunnel and into the mines with molten hot magma, giant pillars with fiery traps and multiple Snowhorns chained and locked up.

Lapis narrowed her eyes but also rubber her head. "It's so hot. How can anyone stand working down here?"

Fox and the Gems took out the Sharpclaw guards and began freeing the imprisoned Snowhorns, finding a female in the last cell.

"Who are you?" The female Snowhorn asked as her cell was opened.

"I am Fox and with me are the Crystal Gems and the prince of the Earthwalkers. We've been sent here by the SnowHorn GateKeeper to find the SpellStone. Do you know where it's hidden?" Fox asked.

"My name is Belina Te. The GateKeeper is my father. Did he send you to rescue me?" The SnowHorn asked hopefully.

Fox now looked guilty. "I'm sorry Belina, but he feels you have betrayed the beliefs of the GateKeepers. We were only sent to find the SpellStone."

Belina Te scowled. "The old fool! I had to save the tribe! If it wasn't for my father being a GateKeeper, none of this would have happened in the first place!"

She bellowed as she charged into the wall, smashing through it and running down a tunnel with boulders collapsing down behind her.

Fox ran up to the rock pile. "Belina! Are you there?"

"Listen carefully. Find a way to the bottom of the mine. I'll meet you there." Belina's voice called out.

"She's got a fine temper on her." Amethyst remarked. "She could have waited for us."

"Her anger is somewhat justifiable. Her logic to the situation was different than her father's. There was no 'good' answer between being a prisoner or being annihilated." Peridot remarked.

"You can endure much worse as a prisoner." Lapis said darkly.

"The problem is if she and father spent as much time fighting Scales as they did each other they might not be in this situation." Fox sighed as he turned around. "So we need to find another way in."

He then noticed a crack in the wall. "Say, Tricky…You see that."

Tricky nodded and dug a hole through the wall, the others following in after him. They followed the path to a river. They travelled past the river, coming upon a a conveyor belt. Once they got to the other end they traveled down the spiral platform to meet Belina Te.

"Belina!" Fox called upon seeing her.

"You made it!" Belina said as they made it down onto the ground floor.

"It wasn't easy! Now where is that SpellStone?" Fox asked.

"My father didn't exactly say where the SpellStone was, but he knew General Scales had hidden it somewhere close by. I'm sure you and your friends can find it." Belina answered.

"Belina, while down here did you see anyone who did not belong? Someone who looked kind of like us? He would have been a male and very young." Garnet said.

"Sorry but I haven't seen anyone like that." Belina shook her head.

Pearl sighed sadly. "So Steven's not here either."

"Relax, P. We had to check anyways and we can help the SnowHorns here. You know Steven would want to help." Amethyst said encouragingly.

"I agree with Amethyst. It is indeed certain that Steven would wish to aid the SnowHorn tribe and along with the rest of the planet in this situation." Peridot agreed.

Connie nodded. "And to be honest I want to help them too. What Scales and the SharpClaw are doing here is wrong. You can't say you don't feel at least bit mad about this."

Pearl shared a look with Garnet who nodded while Lapis looked away, not wanting to admit she agreed. In fact seeing how the SnowHorn and other tribes were being treated made her mad, especially with how long she had been a prisoner of both the Crystal Gems and the Homeworld.

"If you guys don't want to continue me and Tricky can handle it. We'll have the SpellStone back at the Arwing as soon as possible." Fox offered.

Garnet shook her head. "We came this far with you, Fox. We'll go all the way. Amethyst, Connie, and Peridot are right and even Rose would wish to help."

Pearl flinched at the mention of Rose but nodded in agreement.

So with all of them in agreement Fox led the Gems deeper into the mines, traveling up through fiery traps and incoming barrels as they traveled up until they reached a warp pad. The pad warped them all into a new a giant cavern and before them was a massive ice statue of some sort of creature.

"He's got the SpellStone!" Tricky shouted, looking at the statue's hand.

"Strange…I was expecting more security for something as important as this stone." Peridot remarked.

Tricky rushed up to the statue's legs and used his flame breath to begin melting the statue.

Only Garnet sensed something was wrong. "Tricky wait!"

The statue broke apart but instead of simply melting into a puddle the statue turned out to be a frozen monster, resembling some sort of dinosaur insect hybrid. It had four legs, two arms, a stinger, and a head surrounded by spikes.

The creature let out a loud roar when it was free and looked down at the intruders.

"Holy Smokes!" Peridot exclaimed as she stepped back.

"Yikes! I didn't know dinosaurs were that ugly!" Amethyst said, pulling out her whip.

"That's not a dinosaur! Nothing like that existed on Earth!" Connie trembled, feeling very afraid.

Pearl stepped in front of her. "Connie, you and Peridot keep back. We'll handle this monster."

The monster let out another roar as it approached the Gems who went on the attack. Garnet punched the monster in the chest while Pearl slashed at her with her spear and Amethyst slashed at it multiple times with her whip while Lapis flew around the monster, looking for a weakness to exploit. However the monster seemed to only get angry at them and slashed at them with its giant clawed hands and even fired green colored flaming projectiles from its mouth at the Gems and Fox.

"I've never seen an organic creature strong enough take on one Gem, let alone multiple Gems at once." Peridot said amazingly.

Her wrist communicator beeped and Peridot answered, seeing Slippy appear. " _Peridot, I can't get in contact with Fox while he's fighting. I've analyzed the creature and I think I found a weakness._ "

"Where?!" Peridot hastily asked.

" _The rear, where the tail is._ "

Connie looked at the creature's rear and saw a very small tail that was glowing red, understanding it could be a weakness. "Guys! Go for the tail!"

Fox heard Connie shouting and glanced at her and Peridot, seeing the image of Slippy projected from the communicator he gave Peridot. Fox nodded and ran around, spotting the tail and hit it with his staff three times, causing the monster to scream and turn around. Fox tried to run but the creature opened its mouth and ate him whole.

"FOX!" Connie and Peridot shouted in horror.

Inside the beast stomach Fox groaned as he fell into what was likely its stomach acid but luckily he didn't feel like it was eating away at him. He looked up and saw the SpellStone inside some sort of hanging membrane. He hit the hanging thing as much as he could, and outside he could hear the monster screaming in pain. Then Fox heard something before he was pulled back up the flood in the stomach as the monster regurgitated him.

"Fox!"

Fox groaned as he stood up, wiping his face off as the Gems and Tricky ran up to him.

"Oh man! He spat you out! So awesome!" Amethyst laughed enthusiastically.

"Don't feel that way now but we know his weakness." Fox looked back up as the monster, now very angry, fired at them, and lunged his head out to hit them.

"Whoa!" Tricky shouted as he ran out of the way.

Fox looked up, seeing something in the chest open up to take in air. He aimed his staff and fired, hitting the opening and causing the monster more pain as it screamed out. Looking down at Fox it lunged at him, eating him again. This time Fox landed on his feet in the stomach and hit the hanging thing again, and the SpellStone fell out.

A strange sound caused Fox to shudder. "Oh no."

The monster regurgitated Fox, shooting him and the Stone up into the air, causing a scream before Lapis caught him and the stone and landed safely on the ground. The monster fell to the ground, making choking sounds before it finally died.

"Wow…We did it!" Amethyst cheered as Fox picked up the first SpellStone. "Aw man! I hope finding all the other stones are this fun!"


	8. Chapter 8

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

( **The Volcano** )

* * *

Fox walked alongside Belina Te with the Gems through the village back to the Arwing. "You must forgive your father. You must work together to lead the SnowHorn Tribe together against Scales, instead of fighting each other."

"I will, Fox. Because of you all, my people shall no longer live as slaves!" Belina Te said gratefully.

"OK, we'll see you soon. We gotta take this SpellStone back to the planet!" Fox said, rushing back into the cave.

"Well, Steven was not here. Maybe we'll find him on the way to the Force Point Temple." Pearl suggested optimistically as they walked back to the Arwing. "Where is it?"

"Let's find out." Fox tapped his communicator and General Pepper himself appeared from the holo-display.

" _Great job, Fox! You saved the SnowHorn Tribe and collected the SpellStone. But it's not over yet. You need to return the SpellStone to the Force Point Temple. Peppy has indicated that it's located beyond Moon Mountain Pass. I'm sure the ThornTails can point you in the right direction. Pepper out_ …"

"Well you heard him. We're heading to Moon Mountain Pass next." Fox answered as he opened the cockpit. "Though I help your friend is not there. Moon Mountain Pass sounds dangerous."

"Dangerous? How dangerous?" Amethyst asked.

"Slippy found records stating that the planet's second moon crashed there, bringing with it strange from space that created a race of mutants that turned out to be the SharpClaw." Fox answered as he opened the cargo compartment for Tricky.

"What kind of crash would create an entire species?" Peridot questioned.

"Probably something in the moon, like a foreign element or substance." Connie suggested.

"Well, whatever did it has turned the landscape into a dangerous place so let's hope your friend is not there." Fox said as he climbed in and tapped the controls. "I'm setting the auto-pilot for Thorntail Hollow. I need to rest after that adventure into the mines."

Connie yawned. "Now that you mention it I'm tired too."

"I still don't understand the concept of sleep." Peridot said as she watched Connie climp into the cockpit and climbed in next while the other Gems shrunk down.

"Well it is important to us." Fox said as the cockpit closed and the Arwing slowly lifted off. "Let's just hope things aren't too bad when we get there."

* * *

The trip back to Thorntail Hollow lasted half a day. Fox took the chance to take a nap, as did Connie while Lapis followed after the Arwing this time, being the one Gem who could fly through space. The other Gems had remained quiet and waited for them to wake up by they landed back in ThornTail Hollow.

As soon the ship landed and everyone hopped out a Thorntail rushed up to them. "You have got to help us! Those horrible Sharpclaw have put out our lovely beacons and it gets too dark at night! We be scared of the dark!"

Fox sighed tiredly. "Ok, ok. Stop crying. I'll see what I can do."

Peppy chose the moment to appear from Fox's communicator. " _Don't forget about the Spellstone, Fox. You have to return it to the Force Point Temple._ "

Babysitting ThornTail was NOT what Fox is getting paid for but he figured that the only way to get him off his back would be to do it.

"Wait. Can we really stop do this?" Pearl asked. "What about the SpellStone?"

"Look the faster I help the faster we can go. Besides we have a walking torch." Fox said, looking at Tricky.

"You'll need something to burn continuously." The Thorntail pointed at a nearby tree. "The Fire Weed Tree will get you what you need."

One by one the Gems and Fox grabbed fire weeds from the tree and both Tricky's flame command and Garnet's fire power lit the beacons in under five minutes.

"The beacons mean so much to my tribe." The Thorntail once the last beacon was lit. "Thank you so much."

Once that was done Fox lead the group toward the well again, but this time he took the path beyond. At the end of the path Fox planted a Bomb Spore and blow it up. They followed the resulting path until they happened to fall through a weak floor.

They landed on a platform below with air rushing up.

"What's going on?" Peridot asked, holding onto Garnet.

"There's air rushing up." Connie realized as Pearl held her. "It's hard to breath."

"This way." Fox pointed to the left, cross the platforms, and led them up a wind lift.

They came back into the cave and followed Fox out into a desolate, dreary, and spooking looking plane.

"This is it. Moon Mountain Pass." Tricky said.

"Man, and I thought the Kindergarten was creepy." Amethyst said.

"The Force Point Temple should be up ahead." Fox pointed up the hill.

"Be careful. We are not alone." Garnet said.

No one had to argue with her when an avalanche of barrels fell down the hill towards them. Garnet rushed forward, crushing the barrels with her gauntlets, clearing a path for the over as they came upon a gate were the barrels were being launched from. There two Sharpclaw manning the machine which Pearl quickly dispatched and turned off the machine.

"That was too easy. These Sharpclaw are wimps." Amethyst said as the gate opened.

They followed the path to a large structure and went inside, feeling the air getting warmer as they turned a corner and came upon some platforms over a pool of lava that slid into the wall and back out.

"Whoa! Looks like one of Steven's video games!" Amethyst said with a smile.

Lapis led out a sharp gasp at the heat and ran a hand through her hair. "I've never been to place with such heat."

Garnet picked up Peridot and Connie, jumping from platform to platform with the others to the other side.

"I think it's safe to say this is the Volcano Force Point Temple." Pearl commented as they went farther to a room with a fenced flame jet.

"Yeah." Fox stopped in front of the entrance to this and when the flame disappeared he jumped down.

Everyone followed him down onto a narrow platform over another pool of lava which they carefully walked across. Once they reached the end Fox pointed up a conveyor belt leading up to another floor. Garnet led the group up the conveyor belt, using her gauntlets to block the incoming barrels until everyone made it up.

"Where to now?" Amethyst asked.

Pearl looked at a sign pointing to the left. "I believe that way."

They followed the sign to the left; crossing a gap in the middle of the next chamber and climbed the wall. They came upon a bridge with a gate in the middle and Connie noticed an opening in the middle of the ground in front of the gate.

"Hey, Fox. I think you can fit the Spellstone in here." Connie tapped Fox on the arm.

Fox held out the Spellstone and they watched as it released a small bit of energy that opened the gate.

They came upon the end of the bridge and saw the door was locked. Garnet moved to punch her way through but the door was strong enough to repel even her strength.

Peridot looked up and saw flames of varying colors and two orbs. "How can the flames change color like that?"

Connie noticed it as well. "They look like they match the color of this orbs."

"One way to find out." Fox took out his staff and used his Fire Blaster on these orbs; when the flame was the color of the orb, fire through the flame so it hits the orb causing the locks to open.

Fox then used the SpellStone on the door to enter when he saw the Spellstone shaped hold in the door. In the next room was a Life-Force Door at the other end that led deeper into the temple and four Sharpclaw were waiting for them.

"Come and get some!" Amethyst shouted as she slammed into one of them with her Spin-Dash.

Pearl slashed down another SharpClaw while Garnet took out the other two, causing the Life-Force Door to vanish.

The next room was large and circular with Krazoa statues lining the walls and ladders allowing for them to climb up.

But Fox noticed a sign on the wall.

 _Only he who dims the flame of the Krazoa may pass._

He then noticed two furnaces and decided to leave no stone unturned. "Tricky. Flame."

Tricky lit both furnaces, activating two platforms that slid out of the wall on the upper floor. They group slowly climbed the ladder up and crossed the platforms to an entryway that led out onto a balcony and led back inside to another chamber. They crossed the platforms in the next chamber, avoiding fire jets, to the ladder; going across to another ladder, then crossed more platforms to the room they were in before.

"Man, I hate these maze games." Amethyst grumbled.

They cross a few more platforms, but Fox stopped when he felt his staff vibrated again. "Hang on. The staff's vibrating again. There must be a new power for it close by."

Fox turned a corner into the next room and fell down into the mystic cavern that looked like the other once. He came back with a grin as he held out his staff. "This one will come in handy."

The Gems had no idea what he meant until he used it to extinguish all four flames in the room that activated an elevator like platform to rise up and appear in the center of the room down below.

"Whoa! A freeze blast!" Amethyst grinned. "Cool…Lame pun but still cool."

They walked onto the elevator and waited as it took them down into a fiery cavern. They followed along the path to the door.

"Whoa!" Connie gasped at the massive two floor chamber with a platform in the middle on each floor.

That was when Peppy decided to contact them. " _Hi, guys. I've been studying the ancient records of this planet and you might be interested to hear this. This temple has been built on a Force Point. A point where pure magical energy is forced up from within the core of the planet. This energy is so powerful that it continually attempts to break the planet apart!_

 _To stop this the ancient Krazoa two Spellstones inside the temple to absorb the energy. When General Scales removed the stones the planet began to fall apart! By returning the Spellstones back to the temple you will bring the planet together once more. Peppy out._ "

"My word…" Connie gasped when Peppy was done.

"A planet held together by a form of pure energy. I cannot almost imagine what Homeworld would do if they learned of this planet." Peridot commented, surprised by what Peppy had said.

"And if we are lucky they never will." Garnet replied. "Let's get back on task."

"I think I see the way to go." Fox pointed up at the center of the upper platform.

"I think we can shorten the trip." Garnet said.

One by one, the Gems helped Peridot, Connie, Fox, and Tricky up to the second floor, onto the center of the platform where they were all warped away in a flash of purple light. They reappeared in another chamber, this one decorated with Krazoa statues, large glass windows and in the center of the chamber was a large stone altar with four Spellstone outlets and a stream of energy pouring out from below.

"This must be where the energy is pouring from." Peridot hypothesized as Fox walked over and placed his Spellstone in.

The chamber shook as the flow of energy began to slowly fade but much of still remained.

"One down, three to go." Fox said with a small smile.

"Hopefully we'll find Steven near one of these stones." Pearl said solemnly.

He had to be close by.

He just had to be.


	9. Chapter 9

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

( **The Krazoa – Krazoa Palace Theme Plays** )

* * *

The group was warped back to the entrance of the Volcano Force Point once their job was done.

"Great. Just great." Pearl grumbled as she walked out of the temple. "We've been at an ice mountain, a floating land mass, and all the way out here and still no sign of Steven. Just where could he be?"

"I'm sure he's okay, Pearl. Steven can take care of himself." Connie said, trying to stay positive.

"But he's all alone. What if the Sharpclaw or something worse has found him?" Pearl was starting hyperventilate.

"Though I share your concern, Pearl I have to admit Steven has shown an amazing ability to survive outcomes that I think even a veteran Gem would find difficulty." Peridot commented. "He can at least protect himself from threats like the Sharpclaw."

"But we don't know if he is okay!" Pearl exclaimed before Garnet put a hand on her shoulder. "Garnet?"

"You are right to be worried, Pearl but Connie and Peridot are right. Steven has grown much these last few years." Garnet said calmly. "Remember, he went to the core of the Earth with only Peridot and stopped the Cluster from forming. And before that he has done so much to help us and the Earth."

Fox wisely kept silent as they walked back into Moon Mountain Pass. Just as they cleared the gate though, something happened.

A female voice cried out of nowhere, echoing through the air. " _Please help us! Help us! We are dying We need the Krazoa spirts or we won't survive!_ "

"Can you hear that?" Fox asked, trying to see where the voice was coming from.

" _Help us!_ " This time the voice sounded younger but it was very familiar.

"Steven!" The Gems and Connie quickly recognized the voice.

" _Please! Someone help us! Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Peridot, Lapis, Connie, someone help!_ "

"Steven! Steven, where are you?" Pearl cried out, looking everywhere along with all the Gems who were looking very anxious and terrified.

A large image appeared before them, looking like a large humanoid dressed in blue and gold oriented robes with a golden mask hiding his face.

Tricky gasped upon seeing the figure. "I don't believe it! A Krazoa!"

"A what?" Fox asked.

"A Krazoa! The people who created this planet!" Tricky exclaimed.

The masked being looked down at them. " _Do you wish to accept our test?_ "

Fox was confused. "What is it talking about? What test?"

" _Please…Please…_ " The female voice grew fainter.

" _I was released when they passed my test. But they are now in great danger for them to survive you must continue what they stared and collect the remaining Krazoa spirits. For only the pure of heart can enter our shrines._ " The spirit before them explained.

"What do you mean? Where is he?! Where is Steven?!" Pearl shouted, pulling out her spear. "Take us to Steven!"

" _I cannot help you save them even if I did. Only the power of the Krazoa spirits can set them free._ " The Krazoa answered.

"What does that mean? The planet is falling apart and you won't help anyone at all." Fox said accusingly.

This time the woman spoke again. " _Please…Please don't hurt us._ "

" _Guys, where are you?!_ " Steven cried out.

"They sound like they are in trouble, Fox." Tricky pointed out, feeling conflicted.

"Where is Steven?!" Lapis glared at the Krazoa. "What did you do to him?!"

" _He has been caught in between the battle for the life of this planet. Now his life depends on you, saving him and this planet from destruction. Find the remaining five Krazoa Shrines, complete the test within each and bring the Spirits to Krazoa Palace._ " The Krazoa answered.

Tricky gasped. "The Warpstone can get you there!"

" _When all spirits are returned, they will be saved._ _They are depending on you. For their lives._ "

Fox glanced at the Gems before looking back at the spirit. "Okay, I'll take your test."

"So will I." Connie stepped forward, standing next to Fox.

"We all will." Garnet said, as she and the other Gems stood beside the two. "Tell us what we must do."

" _Defeat the creature to collect a Moon Seed."_

"I guess we better help them." Tricky said as a nearby door opened.

With that said the masked spirit disappeared.

"Wow. An actual Krazoa." Tricky whispered.

"What could it have meant by that?" Peridot asked, trembling slightly. "Steven…He sounded so scared."

"We should just go to this Krazoa Palace and find out what's going on." Pearl said, clenching her fists.

"Wait, let's not forget that an actual Krazoa asked us to find another one. We can't just run off." Tricky protested.

"And we can't just run off and look for these spirits while Steven is suffering!" Pearl exclaimed.

Garnet put a hand on Pearl's shoulder to try and calm her. "Tricky, you said the Warpstone could take us to Krazoa Palace."

"Yeah." Tricky answered.

"Then we should go to Krazoa Palace and look for Steven." Garnet suggested, looking at everyone in the group.

"What about the shrine? We can't just run off." Fox said, looking at the cave and sighed. "If you guys want to go on ahead you can go. I'll catch up after I find this shrine."

Garnet nodded. "We will go and see this Warpstone about going to Krazoa Palace. Perhaps we will learn more what has happened to Steven."

* * *

"I can't take you to Krazoa Palace!" The WarpStone barked annoyingly.

Pearl stomped her foot into the ground. "Oh come on! Why not?!"

"It's a sacred place to dinosaurs and unless you have a Krazoa spirt with you I can't send you there." The Warpstone explained.

Lapis clenched her fist. "Just send us there!"

"I can't."

This argument had been going on for the last hour with the WarpStone refusing to send the Gems and Connie to the Krazoa Palace.

"Please! Our friend needs our help!" Connie pleaded.

"If you find a Krazoa Spirit I can send you there. The Krazoa Palace is not only a sacred place it's also important to the survival of this planet." The WarpStone replied.

"What's so important about these spirits?" Amethyst asked impatiently.

"They help manage the flow of energy from the core of this planet alongside the Spell Stones. They protected the Force Point Temples before they were broken in the war. Without them this planet is dead." The Warpstone explained.

"We're not intending any harm to the palace or the spirits. But someone important to us might be there." Garnet said diplomatically to try and convince the WarpStone.

"Hey guys!"

The Gems and Connie turned around, spotting Tricky followed Fox who was noticeably different than before. His eyes was now a shimmering violet and when Garnet looked at him she could see an aura of power surrounding him that actually seemed to block her future vision.

"Fox? What happened to you?" Connie asked as Fox walked up.

"I found the shrine and passed the test inside. The spirit kind of entered my body so I could take it back to the Krazoa Palace." Fox explained and looked up at the WarpStone. "Hey, big guy. I got a Krazoa spirit so I can go to Krazoa Palace with everyone here."

The WarpStone nodded and held out his left hand. "Are you ready to go to Krazoa Palace?"

"We are." Fox answered.

With that said the WarpStone held them up and in a flash of light warped them through time and space to their destination.

* * *

The first feeling they felt as appeared was the feeling of cold rain.

"Wh-Where are…" Connie trailed off as she looked ahead and saw it.

A massive cathedral looking fortress in the center of a dark storm that was so high up it looked like was actually floating in the sky, endless rain with the occasional lightning flashing across the sky that caused Peridot to cry out in shock, stepping back into Garnet.

"So this is Krazoa Palace." Fox said, looking at the dark and foreboding fortress.

Connie was shivering from the cold before Pearl quickly wrapped her arms around her student, to try and keep her warm. "I-I've never seen such a place before. Not even at the Sky Arena."

"Lapis, could you please block the incoming rain? Connie can't handle cold temperatures like us." Pearl asked, looking slightly pleading at Lapis.

Lapis stared quietly at Pearl and Connie before raising one hand and stopping the rain above them, forming a shield of water.

"Tricky, you know where to release the spirit?" Fox asked their dinosaur companion but received no answer. "Tricky?"

" _Ah, forgot to tell ya. I cannot warp dinosaurs._ " The Warpstone's voice echoed around them.

"Really? Seems kind of weird. I mean there's no one else on this planet who are not dinosaurs." Amethyst commented.

"Kind of a shame, huh?" Fox asked with a smile.

" _I can still hear you, guys._ " Tricky's voice was heard next.

"Well, guess we better get moving." Fox shook his head.

"Be careful. This place…There's some sort of power emanating from it…" Garnet said, looking at the Krazoa Palace silently but everyone could see how serious she was. "My Future Vision, it's being disrupted again."

"What sort of power could disrupt a Sapphire's Future Vision?" Peridot wondered aloud as they began walking towards the palace.

"Probably these Krazoa guys everyone keeps talking about." Amethyst remarked sullenly. "You'd think they could keep the planet together with no trouble at all."

Fox noticed the two glowing squid-like creatures floating nearby and shot at them with his staff's Fire-Blaster, killing them quickly. "Not sure what they are but I'm not sure they're exactly guards."

The group up the ramp that led to a Life-Force Door, guarded by four Sharpclaw.

"But these are!" Amethyst pulled out her whip.

Only Lapis stepped forward with one hand the water shield lashed out and knocked all the Sharpclaw into the walls, defeating them quickly and causing the Life-Force Door to vanish.

"Wow." Fox said as Lapis dispelled the water whip.

"I know." Peridot nodded in agreement.

They entered the palace, first seeing only darkness before Pearl and Peridot lit up the room with lights from their gems. They slowly walked through the darkness, using their lights to travel through the room, reaching the end where there was no door but they did find a crack in the wall. With one punch Garnet shattered the wall and they came into a small hall with fire jets in the middle and another cracked wall at the end.

"Not very imaginative." Amethyst said as she turned into a ball and shot forward, hitting the wall and smashing it down.

The next room was larger and cleaner with Krazoa statues lining the walls and on the other end of the room was a floating machine with an energy shield around. It fired on Amethyst who quickly dodged and lashed out with her whip. The shield blocked the whip and the machine continued to fire.

"Whoa!" Amethyst rolled out of the way of next blast. "A machine that can block Gem powers."

Fox looked at the flames that changed colors and the orbs behind the machine. "Those flames…Like in the Volcano Temple."

He shot the Fire Blaster through the flames at the orbs when the colors are right, causing both orbs to lit and the shield to vanish. He then shot the machine until it exploded.

"Nice!" Amethyst remarked.

"That was indeed impressive." Peridot admitted. "Still, why would a machine allow its power source to be vulnerable to attack?"

"They might not have been expecting anyone to figure out the little fire color trick. I don't think this is exactly only technology. This is a magical place after all." Fox remarked.

"So now what?" Connie asked.

Fox looked at the switch on the ground and back at the barrel at the other end of the hall. "I got an idea."

He went back and got the barrel, then came back and placed it on the switch to open the next door. In the next room, was a glass platform like the one in the Volcano Force Point Temple with a single Sharpclaw guard that was quickly defeated by Garnet. Fox spotted the platform that led up to an opening and stepped on it, watching as it rose up. The Gems and Connie followed him through the small blue colored hall, taking a left and walked into a massive multi-floored chamber with wind lift platforms.

"I've only seen such constructs in history logs of old Gem technology." Peridot remarked, fascinated by the interior of the Krazoa Palace. "This place looks similar to Gem Temples that have existed on outer colonies and the few remaining ones on Homeworld."

Lapis seemed to perk up slightly. "I didn't think any Temples still existed on Homeworld."

"Some still remain. There's not much left since Homeworld advanced its technology. The only Temples remaining are treated more like exhibits than anything important." Peridot admitted. "But this place…For such a primitive planet this place is remarkably as close to anything Gem that I have seen since we came to this planet."

"There is something about this place though. The energy from this place is unlike anything I've ever seen." Garnet admitted as she touched a small pillar. "It completely disrupts my future vision to the point that all I see is static."

Fox considered that. "Maybe we can find out where to release the spirit if we can this place." He tapped his wrist communicator and contact Slippy. "Hey Slip, can you scan the Krazoa Palace for anything that might help us?"

" _I already did, Fox and I found something you might want to know. I'm detecting high amounts of energy coming from the very top of the palace._ " Slippy answered.

"Really?" Fox asked.

" _Yeah and there's something else. The energy surge is centered at the very top and I think there are two life signs up there. It's hard to say because something is blocking my scans._ "

"Any idea how we can get up there?" Fox asked.

" _The wind lifts in front you. I think they're made to help you reach the higher floors. I detect a couple of wind lifts on the top floor that should take you right to the very top of the palace._ " Slippy explained.

"Thanks, Slip. We'll be in touch." Fox said, ending the call. "Well, here we go."

Fox along with the rest of the group stepped onto the wind lift and were carried to the top while Lapis activated her wings. Pearl grabbed Connie and Peridot as they floated on the next wind lift, then get onto the platform of the top floor.

"That was fun. Steven would have loved this." Amethyst remarked with a small laugh. "We should show him this when we find him. Who knows? Maybe he is here."

"I hope so." Pearl said as they circled around to another wind lift.

Fox stepped onto it and was propelled up to the very top of the palace. The Gems were next and they were greeted with the rain and thunder that didn't seem to end.

"Great. Back out into the rain." Amethyst grunted as she pushed her wet hair away from her face. "Now where are-"

"STEVEN!" Pearl screamed in horror.

Everyone looked up ramp leading to a shrine and saw a giant crystal held at the very center of the roof was suspended in the air by spiked circular rings that seemed to hold. Within the crystal were two people, a blue vixen and the other…

It was Steven.

"STEVEN!" Amethyst, Garnet, Peridot, Connie, and Lapis all shouted at the same time as they ran up the ramp.

Steven was trapped in the crystal, seemingly sleeping.

At least they hoped he was just sleeping.

"Steven! Steven, can you hear me?!" Pearl shouted before jumping up to try and break Steven out.

Only she was repelled by some sort of energy barrier that knocked her back down onto the ground. Fox looked up, seeing the trapped boy and the woman with him. He was caught off guard by how beautiful she was but regained his focus as he heard the Gems and Connie both crying out for Steven. Amethyst and Garnet pulled out their weapons and tried to break through, only to be repelled like Pearl was.

Lapis gathered up water from the rain and formed a giant water fist that she used to try and punch through the crystal but the barrier broke back into little water droplets.

"What's with this thing?!" Amethyst shouted in frustration.

Fox looked at the crystal and spotted something flying around it. "Look! A Krazoa Spirit!"

Everyone stopped and looked at the transparent face that resembled the face of the Krazoa that appeared to them at Moon Mountain Pass.

"But how do I get mine out?" Fox asked before hearing a sound and looked back down.

The statue face of a Krazoa and emerged from the wall around the shrine, as if it reacted to his question.

"I think I know where the spirit is supposed to go." Fox said as he slowly approached the statue.

He stood before the statue looking at it before falling to his knees, gasping for breath suddenly. His body convulsed as he threw his arms back, thrusting his chest forward the spirit slowly emerged from his body, entering the statue. The statue's head rumbled before its eyes opened and from below a second spirit emerged and flew around the crystal containing Steven and the woman inside.

"The second spirit!" Peridot exclaimed. "Does this mean the spirits are holding Steven in the crystal?"

Whatever was about to be said next was cut off as the stature opened its mouth, releasing a stream of purple misty light that reached and grabbed Fox, Connie, and the Gems before pulling them into its mouth, shrinking them as they vanished into it.

"STEVEN!" The Gems screamed out as they vanished from the Krazoa Palace where their most beloved child was being held captive.


	10. Chapter 10

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

( **Wings of the Cloudrunner** )

* * *

When the group regained their senses they were in the giant hand of the WarpStone as he set them all back on the ground.

"Wh-Why-How did we-WE GOT TO GET BACK TO STEVEN!" Pearl shouted hysterically, looking back up at the WarpStone. "Take us back there!"

" _I can't. The Krazoa sent you back and if I send you to Krazoa Palace without a spirit they'll simply send you back._ " The WarpStone replied.

"Please, just try! We can't leave Steven back there!" Pearl begged.

" _Find another spirit and I'll send you back. It's time you guys got goin' anyways. One Spellstone down and three more to go. The next place you ought to look is Cape Claw, where the Ocean Force Point Temple is located._ " The WarpStone answered. " _There might be a Krazoa Shrine somewhere around there._ "

The Gems and Connie all wanted to argue but the WarpStone turned away, deciding that the conversation was over.

"Let me at him." Amethyst pulled out her whip.

"Wait!" Fox held up his hands as he got their attention. "Look, you guys are all upset and worried and you should be but hurting the big guy who is the only one who can get us back to the Krazoa Palace is not the answer."

The Gems all looked extremely reluctant but stood down.

"So what do we do, Fox?" Connie asked.

Fox shrugged. "Well, if only a Krazoa spirit can get us into the Palace we'll just have to find one and the big guy just told us where to go next."

"But Steven-" Pearl started but stopped as Garnet put a hand on her shoulder.

Garnet was silent as she looked at the other Gems. "I know how you all feel. We should go back and help Steven but…This is planet whatever's driving it is out of our control. We tried to help Steven but we failed and we were pulled back and if we can't go back to try and free him…We'll have to do as Fox suggests."

"But Garnet-" Amethyst protested.

"I know, Amethyst!" Garnet cut her off harshly. "I don't want to go running around the planet while Steven is trapped but…I don't know what else to do."

The Gems all seemed to understand from the looks on their faces. They all wanted to argue but none of them had the strength to do so.

"Let us go." Garnet looked at Fox. "Lead the way, Fox."

Fox nodded and brought up a holographic map and looked at the display, the location of Cape Claw being close to the ocean. "Okay, I know where to go next."

With that said they left the WarpStone's hangout and Fox led them to the sign pointing to Cape Claw. Going in the pointed direction they entered the stone tunnel that was ahead and followed it all the way to the end to find a new area.

"This way." Fox turned right and once he reached the end he jumped into the water.

Garnet picked up Connie and Peridot and jumped down, keeping them safe from landing in the water. They climbed out on the other side, following the obvious path that went through the next tunnel. On the way they found signs that pointed to a place called LightFoot Village.

"The Lightfoot village?" Connie asked. "Must be another tribe."

"Maybe they're called that for being light on their feet." Amethyst remarked, trying to make a joke in the wake of everyone learning Steven's fate.

They reached an area with trees and two Sharpclaw patrolling. Garnet walked forward and knocked them out without saying a word. It was obvious to anyone, even Fox and Tricky that she had a lot on her mind right now.

At the end of the area was a gate with a golden Scarab statue. "Give me 60 Scarabs to reach Cape Claw."

Fox quickly gave it 60 Scarabs and the group then proceeded through the gate behind it. The next area was a maze.

"Great. A maze." Amethyst groaned. "Let's just punch through it."

Fox held up his map display. "Or we follow this map."

It took only a moment to get through the maze and the next bit is relatively straightforward, and at the end of it, they found a ladder. Fox climbed down first, and then follow the ladder/cliff-jumping trail to the bottom.

"That map says Cape Claw is just beyond this." Fox said as the Gems and Connie climbed down. "We need to go that way." He pointed to the ladder on the other side leading to a tunnel.

Making their way back to the second level, they went right and climbed the ladder before following the tunnel to reach Cape Claw. The place they had been walking to over an entire day looked like a beach paradise.

"Wow." Connie said as they walked down the path, noticing the giant Krazoa statue near the waterfall. "This place looks amazing."

"And the Ocean Force Point temple is behind the statue of the Krazoa." Tricky said before suddenly stopping and looked around.

"Tricky?" Fox asked.

"I…I thought I heard something." Tricky answered before shaking it off. "Never mind, let's go."

Fox shrugged and continued on, stopping at a waterfall with no bridge.

"We can jump across with anyone who can't make it one at a time." Pearl suggested before looking at the waterfall, seeing a red switch. "Wait…Fox, do you see that?"

Fox pulled out his staff and aimed at the switch, hitting it with his Fire Blaster. This caused a bridge to extend out, connecting the two cliffs.

"That is a very interesting weapon. If you don't mind, Fox I'd like a chance to you look if you're willing." Peridot said as they crossed the bridge.

"Maybe another time." Fox said as they walked in front of the statue. "So this is the Ocean Force Point Temple. We won't be able to get in without a SpellStone."

Connie looked around and saw a cave with bars on a beach next to the statue. "Look! I think that's a cell and someone's inside it!"

The Gems and Fox looked in the direction Connie was pointing and followed down the path to the beach.

Garnet grabbed the bars and pulled them apart. "Is anyone in here?"

Out of the cave came, to Connie's shock, a large red skinned pterodactyl with a blue robe like cloth around its neck, a golden collar around its neck and a crown on its head.

Tricky was more vocal. "Whoa! A Cloudrunner! Shoo, Shoo! Go away CloudRunner, get away!"

Fox looked down at Tricky who hid behind his legs. "Have you two met?"

The Cloudrunner glanced at Tricky and _she_ answered. "He is an Earthwalker. I am a Cloudrunner. Our tribes don't see eye to eye. His father's probably been saying terrible things about me."

She walked past Fox as he glanced at the cell. "Who locked you in there?"

"General Scales. Who else?" The Cloudrunner answered, sounding annoyed at the question. "You see I am the Queen of the Cloudrunner tribe and also the Gatekeeper."

"That guy needs to be taught a lesson." Fox said sternly. "Where is he now?"

The Cloudrunner Queen looked up at the sky. "He used my power to open a path to the Cloudrunner Fortress. I must return there and help my tribe."

"I'm gonna need that Spellstone." Fox brought his communicator. "Peppy, make sure the Arwing is ready when I get back to the hollow."

"Wait a minute! There's no _way_ I'm going up to her fortress!" Tricky protested.

Fox looked down at Tricky before sighing. "Fine, you can sit this one out. We'll head back to the hollow and you can wait there."

"We haven't much time." The Queen Cloudrunner lifted herself into the air. "I'll meet you at the fortress."

She shot up into the sky, opening the portal to the Cloudrunner Fortress.

"Lapis, can you follow the queen to her fortress?" Garnet asked the water gem.

Lapis glanced at the gems for a second. "I don't like this idea."

"Huh?"

"We should have just gone back to the Krazoa Palace to help Steven." Lapis argued, looking at the Gems. "You gave up too fast."

Pearl glared and walked up to Lapis, looking her in the eyes. "No we did not and if I had my way I'd be back at the palace trying to free Steven but we were forced away and we're being forced to look for these stones and spirit."

"And Lapis, if Steven was here he'd want to help the dinosaurs." Connie spoke up, earning everyone's attention. "You know it and you know he wouldn't want you to abandon the dinosaurs and us when we need you the most to help us."

Lapis stared at Connie before sighing and reluctantly nodded. "Fine, I'll help…For Steven."

She sprouted her water wings and flew up after the Cloudrunner Queen through the portal.

( **End Theme** )


	11. Chapter 11

**(Steven Universe Intro)**

 **(Infiltration)**

* * *

"Peppy, we're back at the Hollow. Do you have anything on the Cloudrunner Fortress?" Fox asked as he and the others returned to the hollow.

" _I scanned the place and it's not good, Fox. CloudRunner Fortress has been attacked by General Scales and his SharpClaw army. It would make an ideal base from which he could rule over the planet._ " Peppy replied. " _The fortress stands on ground that is rich with gold and diamonds. With this wealth, Scales would become unstoppable. Find the SpellStone and save the CloudRunners! Peppy out!_ "

"Right, thanks Peppy." Fox nodded, closing the channel. "Well, everyone looks like we'll have our work cut out for us this time. Maybe Scales will have a clue about your friend, Steven."

"You think so?" Connie asked, perking up along with everyone else.

"Scales went through a lot of trouble to conquer this planet. I honestly find it hard to believe he didn't have something to do with your friend being trapped in a giant crystals with someone else." Fox explained as he opened the cockpit.

That seemed to motivate them all as Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst shrunk themselves while Connie and Peridot sat on Fox's lap. The cockpit closed and the Arwing took off, leaving Tricky in the Hollow. The Arwing followed the portal leading to the Cloudrunner fortress. It was an impressive fortress built on many levels and looked beautiful as the Arwing landed and everyone hopped out.

"Wow…" Connie trailed off as she looked at the fortress up ahead. "It's so beautiful."

"I admit it is physically pleasing to look at." Peridot admitted, spotting Sharpclaw guards who opened the front gate and came out to attack them. "Uh oh! We got company!"

"I got this!" Amethyst pulled out whip and with one swing she tied up all the guards and tossed them into the water. "Too easy."

"Let's go. Lapis and the Queen shouldn't be far." Garnet said, leading the group through the gates.

They came upon a spiral walk through that they followed up to an open gate and came upon a pile of rubble. They came upon the rubble and stopped, seeing a gathering of Sharpclaw and hovering robots surrounding two people.

Connie gasped. "The Queen and Lapis! They've been captured!"

Everyone was quiet as a large green scaled Sharpclaw approached. This one looked different, having a T-Rex like face with yellow eyes with a red irises and slit pupils, a three clawed right hand while on his left arm was a doubled hook. He wore a red tunic with spiked armor on his shoulders and metallic gold patterned belt around his waist.

"I know it was the fox and those meddlesome creatures who set you free. The blue one with you was spotted helping them before." The Sharpclaw said as he turned away, his voice sounding clear, cold, and harsh. "Now where are they?"

The Queen Cloudrunner lifted her head up. "I do not know what you are talking about."

The Sharpclaw, General Scales let out an angered roar as he spun around, batting a robot away with his hook while shoving one of his underlings aside as he grabbed the Queen by the neck and lifted her up. Lapis tried to help but a bolt from another robot shocked her, causing her to cry out.

"You will tell me!" Scales roared at the Queen. "Where can I find the fox and his friends?"

The Queen glared at Scales. "They will find you…And they will destroy you."

Scales tilted his head, intrigued by how the Queen spoke to him like that and dropped her back onto the ground, leaving her to be beaten by his minions.

"Stop!" A voice shouted out, stopping the beatings.

Fox stepped out with the Gems and pulled out their weapons. "It's over Scales. Leave the Queen alone."

Scales regarded the group before him before looking back at the Queen and Lapis. "Enough! Take them away." Scales grinned as he stepped forward. "The famous Fox McCloud and the so-called Crystal Gems. How nice of you to pay us a visit. Allow me to show some of our hospitality."

Fox frowned in confusion before he was hit by bolts from hidden robots that surrounded them. Fox was stunned and collapsed quickly, while the Gems went on the attack, destroying the robots.

Scales chuckled as the last robot fell. "Impressive. I heard much of you so-called Gems, especially from the little runt who appeared on my Galleon."

That caused the Gems and Connie to freeze. "Steven…"

"Ah, now I remember his name. He was so annoying which is perhaps why I threw him overboard." Scales chuckled, as if remembering a joke.

"You what?!" Pearl roared as she charged Scales, thrust her spear at his head.

Scales dodged and backhanded Pearl with such strength she flew across the yard. She groaned as she tried to get up but Scales rushed towards her with surprising speed and stabbed her through the chest with his hook, causing her form to explode and left her gem stone to fall onto the ground.

"Why you?!" Amethyst lashed her whip at Scales but the SharpClaw leader roared as he grabbed her whip, ignoring the blast of gem energy that travelled through the whip and made contact with his skin.

Scales didn't even flinch as he pulled the whip with such strength that Amethyst was launched off her feet towards Scales who spun and whipped his tail, hitting Amethyst and sending her flying into the wall at the other side of the yard. Amethyst groaned as her form flashed and retreated into her gem stone. Garnet gritted her teeth as she charged at Scales, aiming to shatter his face with fists but Scales raised one claw…

And caught her fist.

Garnet gasped as Scales laughed and slammed a knee into her chest, followed by a blow to the head and then a tail whip that sent Garnet spiraling across the ground.

"Such a disappointment." Scales remarked as Garnet slowly stood back up. "I was expecting a little more."

Garnet looked at Scales and saw something wrong. "What are you?"

His presence was totally void to the time-stream that allowed Garnet to see future possibilities. It was just like in Krazoa Palace and when Fox was possessed.

"I am General Scales, Ruler of Dinosaur Planet!" Scales roared and lunged at Garnet.

Garnet fought back, meeting Scales fist to fist but no matter how many times she landed a blow Scales simply shrugged them before he finally bit into her neck with such strength it cracked the skin and caused Garnet to scream before her form retreated into Ruby and Sapphire's gem stones. Both Peridot and Connie watched in horror as Scales picked up each of the gem stones and looked them over with a keen eye and grinned.

"How interesting." Scales mused. "Perhaps I shall keep them as decorations on my wall."

"Let them go!" Connie shouted, pulling out her sword.

Scales looked over at the two remaining intruders, having forgotten them. "Well, I suppose I forgot about the rabble. Take them!"

Peridot and Connie backed away as the Sharpclaw advanced on them until they reached the edge. Connie looked over her shoulder and saw the water below and did the only thing she could think of. She grabbed Peridot and jumped over the edge, the two of them screaming as they fell towards the water and made a big splash.

Scales walked over to the edge, regarding the two escaped intruder for only a second. "Keep an eye out for them. I want them alive."

Xxx

Peridot struggled in the water but Connie managed to help her out of the water, both of them shivering slightly under the bridge from how cold the water was.

"Di-Did you see that? He-He took them all down…How can a single one….Guy do that?!" Peridot stuttered from the cold. "Even Jasper couldn't do that alone!"

Connie grabbed Peridot by the shoulders. "Peridot, please calm down. You need to be quiet or we'll be caught."

Peridot panted slightly but calmed down. "…What do we do?"

Connie had no idea. She believed the Gems could handle anything before but the way Scales took down all three of them and made it look so easy scared her as much as Peridot. But she needed them both to be calm if they were to figure anything out.

"Peridot, Steven told me you got metal powers, right?" Connie asked.

That made Peridot slightly calmer. "Y-Yes but I have no training with using them in combat. I don't have the same kind of powers as Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst."

"Neither do I but Pearl trained me how to use a sword." Connie had luckily managed to hold onto her sword. "Maybe if we work together we can figure out a way to rescue them and Fox. Or…" She looked at Peridot's communicator. "We call in help."

Peridot realized what she was talking about and quickly opened a channel. "Hello? Peridot to _Great Fox_. Are you there?"

Slippy and Peppy's holographic heads appeared.

" _Hey guys. We lost contact with Fox. What happened?_ " Slippy asked.

"Fox and the others were captured." Connie answered.

" _What? That's not good._ " Slippy said. " _I just finished working on a disguise for Fox to use._ "

"A disguise?" Both Connie and Peridot asked.

" _A holographic disguise to help Fox get through the fortress. It looked really guarded so I figured Fox could have some help._ " Slippy explained.

Connie and Peridot exchanged a look before Connie asked the question they were both thinking. "Could it work for us?"

( **End Theme** )


	12. Chapter 12

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

( **Explosive** **Rescue** )

Connie and Peridot walked back into Cloudrunner Fortress, now properly disguised as Sharpclaw. They tried not to appear nervous as they walked back into the courtyard where Scales had defeated and captured the Gems and Fox. This time there were only hovering robots acting as guards with no sign of the Sharpclaw, the Gems, or the Cloudrunner Queen.

"Okay, now where do we go?" Peridot asked.

"I don't know but we got to-" Connie stopped as she heard singing. "Hey, you hear that."

Peridot glanced up and looked around. "Yes, I remember that singing…Sapphire!"

"Sapphire?" Connie questioned.

"When Jasper and I captured Steven and the Gems Sapphire was singing from her cell on my warship. I remember it because I was there when Jasper got mad and shouted at Sapphire to stop singing." Peridot explained, looking at an entranced at the other side of the courtyard. "It's coming from over there!"

"Come on." Connie said, leading Peridot around a nearby pool and towards the entrance.

They walked in and saw a chute leading down with robots hovering most of the way down. Peridot gulped and Connie quickly placed a hand on her shoulder to calm the green Gem down. Connie then started to climb down and Peridot followed her after taking a deep breath. The robots seemed to believe they were Sharpclaw as they did nothing when they spotted the two.

Once they reached the bottom they came upon a large door.

"Oh jag. I don't see a switch anywhere!" Peridot complained. "How do we get through now?"

"Maybe we-" Connie stopped as the door opened and out stepped a Sharpclaw guard.

"You!" The guard pointed at the two of them. "Go keep eye on prisoners! I go for break!"

"Uh…." Connie said as the Sharpclaw walked past them, not caring what they had to say.

Connie and Peridot just watched as he climbed up the chute.

"…That was unexpected." Peridot said after a moment.

"Yeah…But we can get in now." Connie quickly reminded Peridot. "Let's go!"

"Connie? Peridot?"

"Fox?" They both watched as a Sharpclaw walked around the corner and the poof a blast of green smoke, revealing Fox McCloud. "Fox?!"

"Hey guys." Fox said as they dropped their disguises. "Nice work getting in."

"How'd you escape?" Peridot asked.

"I'm a high paid mercenary, I know how to get out of a cell. After I got out a snuck past the guard and blew a wall in the ceiling of a nearby room. Slippy just sent me a disguise and I got my stuff back when the guard told me to take over his shift." Fox explained with a smile. "Oh, and I found a friend of yours."

Fox led them back into the prison, showing dinosaurs that Fox had freed and a blue Gem.

"Connie, Peridot." Sapphire said with a smile. "I am so glad you both are safe."

"We are too…You are Sapphire right?" Connie asked, remembering Steven telling her about Ruby and Sapphire.

"I am." Sapphire nodded. "I woke up in a cell similar the one on the Gem Warship with only Fox. Luckily Fox escaped and freed me and the other dinosaurs."

"What about the other Gems?" Peridot asked.

Sapphire frowned. "I do not know. We must have put in separate prisons after…There was something wrong with Scales. He showed the same energy interference that blocked my vision as Fox did when we were at Krazoa Palace."

"Wait, what?" Fox asked.

"Yes. Whatever it was I know that Scales is a dangerous foe and we paid the price for underestimating him." Sapphire stated. "We must find the others."

"Then we might need this." Fox held out a strange stone. "It's called a Power Key. It can open the door to the power chamber where we can restore power to the fortress that will make things easier."

With that said they climbed out of the prison and back into the courtyard. They wandered around the area until Fox spotted a large crate with a SharpClaw crate on top of it. He quickly smashed the SharpClaw crate, revealing a lever and hit the lever behind it that brought down a latter, then climb the ladder on Fox's left.

They climbed up the ladder and into a new hall but Connie noticed it was feeling warmer. "Do you feel that?"

"Yeah." Fox pulled out his staff as they came around the corner and saw nothing but fire.

Fox used his Ice Blast to douse these flames and the ones beyond them, and then they hopped out of the tunnel.

"Now where?" Peridot asked.

"I think I know." Fox said as he led them to the other side of the courtyard, to an alcove that was full of more fire.

Fox put it out, then turned left to walk into the next hallway. "This must be the Power Room."

Fox whipped out his key and put it into the slot to get through. When the door opened out came a greenish gas that when Fox and Connie inhaled it caused them to start coughing badly.

"Fox? Connie? What's wrong?" Peridot asked.

"The air, it's poisonous!" Fox said as pulled them back out of the hall.

"Poisonous?" Peridot asked.

"The air is bad for me and Fox in there, Peridot. We can't breathe it or we'll die." Connie explained that caused Peridot to gasp.

"Really?! So what do we do?!" Peridot asked.

Sapphire calmed Peridot down by putting a hand on the green Gem's shoulders. "I know what to do."

Sapphire led them away from the power chamber and to the raised platform in the center of the courtyard. There were three switches here that Fox, Connie and Sapphire pushed.

"Now what?" Connie asked.

"We must bring what we find back to the Power Chamber." Sapphire answered.

The three traveled through each grate and to their surprise brought back three colored gems to the Power Chamber that upon placing them inside reactivated the city's power.

"The more we stay here the more this place reminds me of more archaic Gem technology. Are we sure Homeworld was never here?" Peridot asked when they were done.

"It is possible that these Krazoa visited Earth around the same time the Gems did." Connie admitted.

"Perhaps but we never encountered any form of life aside from the life on Earth. That is the only planet were we discovered that organic life could exist." Sapphire pointed out.

"Strange…" Connie said before getting back on track of finding the others. "Where to now?"

"This way." Sapphire answered, leading them across the courtyard and find a doorway leading to an air current.

The group rode it up and hopped out at the top. The room to the right held a group of SharpClaw that Fox quickly defeated.

"Things are going to get a little hard with us running around. We better put on our disguises." Fox glanced at Sapphire. "But I don't have another one for you."

"That's all right." Sapphire shape shifted into a Sharpclaw. "Let us move on."

Sapphire pointed to a pair of glowing footprints that Fox stepped on in front of the grate that closed when they entered the room. Sapphire lead them through the door that just opened and pointed to a Fuel Barrel. Fox grabbed the Fuel Barrel and toted it out the doorway and over to the similar one on the other side of the large gate in the center of the wall. Fox set the barrel down on the Barrel Pad, then climbed the ladder and stood on the SharpClaw Pad to get the barrel up to the next floor.

Fox climbed down and picked up the barrel again, taking it outside, standing near the large gap in the balcony, and chucked the barrel in the general direction of the lamps over there. With the barricade out of the way, they were free to pass through the doorway. A SharpClaw came out to investigate which Fox quickly defeated, and after that they found a corner with two SharpClaw Crates and a pad. This time Connie stepped on this while wearing her SharpClaw disguise to knock down a ladder, which they could now climb.

Inside was a room decorated with tree that had pink flowers and in the center was the Queen Cloudrunner in a cage and behind it were two more cages, holding Lapis and Pearl.

"Lapis! Pearl!" Connie called out, dropping disguise.

Pearl's eyes shot towards the entrance, seeing the group. "Connie! Peridot! Fox! Sapphire!"

"Pearl, are you all right?" Sapphire morphed back into her original form.

"We're all right but these cages have some strange energy that cancels out our powers." Pearl said, glancing at Lapis who was very upset to be back in a cage.

"Hang on. We'll get you out." Fox said, looking around the room. "There must be some of sort of mechanism that can open the cages."

"Fox, the column underneath us can be destroyed with explosives." The Cloudrunner Queen spoke up. "One explosion should be enough for us to escape."

"I see how it can happen. Fox, look." Sapphire pointed to a corner of the room.

Fox looked beside the cages and saw a stack of crates. Using them as a stepping stone, Fox hit the switch, and then turned around and visit the corner that held the crates to find another lever switch. He triggered it, then worked his way back to the previous area. They put on their SharpClaw disguises and grabbed a Fuel Barrel from the generator.

Fox carried it into the hallway with the wind current and tossed it through, following suit. Fox picked up the barrel again and toss it at the column in the center of the courtyard. The column shattered, allowing the Queen, Lapis, and Pearl to jump down and land on the ground, now free of their cages.

"Thank you. I owe you all a debt for freeing me again." The Queen said.

"Are you all right?" Connie asked Pearl.

"I'm fine." Pearl answered, her form having changed little since the encounter with Scales. "I didn't think an organic could be strong enough to take on a Gem."

"What about Ruby and Amethyst?" Connie asked.

"Scales took them further into the fortress. He wanted to keep you all separate." The Queen answered. "I know the way in but I need your help. My children saw me captured and took off. I need you all to find them or they might fly away and never come back."

"Mother!"

The Queen looked up and cried out as a small Cloudrunner flew into the room. "Kyte!"

The small Cloudrunner landed on her mother's back and rubbed her face against the Queen's skin. "I'm so glad you are free, Mother!"

"Kyte, I missed you. Do you know where your brothers are?" The Queen asked.

Kyte nodded. "I saw them, Mother. They are scared, Mother. The Sharpclaw having chasing and bullying them."

The Queen narrowed her eyes. "Those beasts!"

Kyte looked at the Gems and Fox, looking surprised to see them. "You…Are you friends of Krystal and Steven?"

The Gems and Connie looked back at the small Cloudrunner in shock, asking at the very same time. "You know Steven?!"

Kyte landed on the ground in front of them. "Yes, I met Steven on Scales' Galleon and traveled with him and Krystal to Krazoa Palace. I remember seeing him and Krystal getting attacked something before we were separated and I ended up captured again by the Sharpclaw who used me as bait to capture my mother."

"Krystal…Is that the name of the woman that was with him?" Fox asked.

Kyte nodded. "Yes."

"Attacked? What attacked Steven?" Pearl asked anxiously.

"I don't know. Everything that happened so fast. It must have been whatever Scales had unleashed into the palace." Kyte answered.

The Queen spoke. "You can answer these questions later, Kyte. Your brothers have priority here."

The Gems, especially Pearl and Lapis looked the most ready to argue but Sapphire spoke. "We will help but we have many questions for later."

The Queen handed Fox what appeared to be a flute. "Take this. Play when my children are near and they will return here."

"Thanks." Fox shared an uneasy look with the rest of the group as they left the room.

"We should ask that Cloudrunner what she knows about Steven." Lapis protested.

"We will but we cannot abandon Ruby and Amethyst to the Sharpclaw and we cannot forget that this castle is still dangerous for us." Sapphire replied.

"What do you suppose that Cloudrunner meant by whatever Scales unleashed into the palace?" Connie asked.

"Obviously Scales is responsible for Steven's current predicament." Peridot stated. "I say we capture him and force him to tell us what he did."

"We will." Pearl said darkly. "If he's responsible for what happened to Steven he will pay."

( **End Theme** )


	13. Chapter 13

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

( **The Second Spellstone** )

With Sapphire's future vision it was incredibly easy to track down each of the Queen's children, deal with the Sharpclaw that were bullying them, and then Fox played the flute that calmed the children down and they returned to their mother in her throne room. The Queen then flew up on the last remaining lever in her throne room that would lead them to the treasury where Scales had hidden the SpellStone.

"The Cloudrunners could have made the trip safer." Connie said, trying not to look down as they walked towards the entrance to the depths of the fortress on the narrow ledge.

"Well they can fly so I don't think it would bother them that much." Fox shrugged as they walked inyo the first room.

Inside the room was a grate with glowing green lights around it. Fox busted it open and collected some FireFlies that lit up the room.

"Looks I'll need an explosive." Fox said, spotting a crack in the wall and then looking at the current. "Wait a second."

He rode the wind current back out again, grabbing a Fuel Barrel from the generator (while wearing his Sharpclaw disguise) and tossed it into the wind stream he just came out of.

"I got it!" Peridot used her metal powers to bring the barrel back down.

Fox traveled back into the treasure room as Pearl grabbed the barrel and carried it through the next hallway and into the darkened room. Using her Gem as a flashlight Pearl found the crack in the wall and tossed the barrel at it. On the other side was a dark room with a ladder leading so far down it was too dark to see.

"That's a pretty long drop." Fox said when he caught up with the group.

"Ruby and Amethyst are down there." Sapphire said seriously. "I see the same power from before when we encountered Scales."

"Then we are on the right track." Pearl summoned her spear and jumped down into the dark.

"Pearl, wait for us!" Connie called down.

Xxx

General Scales looked around the endless gold of the Cloudrunner treasure that was enough that he would have the wealth needed to keep Dinosaur Planet in his grasp for all time. He decided that from here he would decide how he would extend his dominion across the planet. There were two robots holding the two Gems he brought here as prisoners who reformed and tried to break free from the force fields to no avail.

"Scales!"

Scales turned around, narrowing his eyes at the sight of Fox, Pearl, Lapis, Sapphire, Peridot, and Connie, all of them looking ready to fight.

"Sapphire!" Ruby cried out happily.

"About time!" Amethyst grunted.

Fox pointed his staff at Scales who grabbed a nearby Sharpclaw and held him up as a shield.

Scales looked over his shoulder to the other two Sharpclaws. "Get the SpellStone out of here!"

Peridot watched as the two Sharpclaw shot off on their hover-sleds and spotted a third one left behind. Pearl pointed her spear at the robots holding Ruby and Amethyst and blasted them with lasers from her spear. The robots exploded, allowing the two Gems to land perfectly on the floor.

"All right!" Amethyst pulled out her whip. "Time for payback."

Scales growled as he threw his meat shield at Fox and the others who quickly dodged. Pearl charged at Scales, swinging her spear but Scales blocked with his hook, creating sparks from the impact.

Connie spotted Peridot sneaking towards the last hover-sled. "Peridot, wait!"

Peridot hopped onto the sled. "I'll get the stone!"

She took off before anyone could do anything to stop her.

"Hmph!" Scales grunted as Peridot raced off. "Your friend is too late. My guards will get the SpellStone out of here, keeping the rest of this planet in my grip."

"No, she won't." Lapis said activating her wings. "She is not alone."

"Wait for me!" Connie grabbed Lapis by the arm and the blue Gem picked her up as she took off after Peridot.

Scales turned back to the remaining Gems and Ruby and Sapphire fused back into Garnet. "So eager for more humiliation?"

"What did you do to Steven?!" Pearl shouted angrily, pointing her spear at Scales. "I know you're responsible what happened to him!"

"I could care less about that little meat-bag. I only regret I couldn't sink my teeth into his flesh when I had the chance." Scales retorted.

"Sink your teeth into this!" Amethyst shouted as she launched herself at Scales, using her Spin-Dash attack.

Scales spun and slammed his tail Amethyst, actually sending her flying back into a wall, forming cracks from the impact. Pearl fired more laser shots from her spear at Scales who barely felt them as they hit him.

"Pathetic." Scales scoffed. "And you believe you can stop me?"

"Just what is this guy?" Amethyst grunted as she got back up. "Not even Jasper was this tough."

"I don't know but I'm not letting him get away with what he's done." Garnet summoned her gauntlets. "Your reign ends here, Scales!"

Scales chuckled as he touched his belt. "This is only the beginning."

The Gems and Fox watched as Scales laughed and vanished before their eyes.

"Did he turn invisible?" Amethyst asked.

"No…He's gone." Garnet gritted her teeth. "He must have teleported out of here."

"No!" Pearl slammed her spear into the floor in frustration. "He can't get away! Not now!"

"We better try and help the others." Fox quickly reminded Pearl. "Kyte can probably help us learn more about your friend."

Xxx

Lapis and Connie spotted Peridot on her hover-sled, chasing after the two Sharpclaw with one of them holding the Spellstone. Peridot was close to one of them and the Sharpclaw responded by slamming his sled into hers, knocking her off the sled and sending her skidding down the cave.

"Peridot!" Connie shouted in alarm.

Lapis narrowed her eyes dangerously at the Sharpclaw but Peridot quickly lashed out with a hand, using her metal powers to try and hold the hover-sleds. The Sharpclaw cried out in surprise as their sleds slowed down enough that one of them fell over and dropped the Spellstone. The two then got back up on their hover-sleds and took off, leaving the two Gems and Connie to rush up to the SpellStone.

"Peridot, are you okay?" Connie quickly asked.

Peridot nodded. "I am unharmed. We Peridots are more durable than average Gems."

Connie bent down and picked up the SpellStone. "At least we got the stone. One step closer to saving the planet and Steven."

Xxx

Fox was speaking to the Cloudrunner Queen while the Gems and Connie were speaking to Kyte.

"Steven and Krystal came to Krazoa Palace because Krystal received a distress signal from someone there. She made it onto Scales's galleon where I was being held prisoner. Steven just appeared on the ship when Krystal arrived and Scales threw them overboard, but not before Steven's shield broke the cage that I was trapped in. I followed them to Krazoa Palace and we found an injured Earthwalker that survived the Sharpclaw attack on the palace. The Earthwalker told us about the Krazoa spirits and that they had been scattered around our world when the Sharpclaw attacked." Kyte explained. "Krystal went into the shrine there and passed the test. She came back with a Krazoa and we went to release the spirit. But when we did we were attacked by something and the last I saw of Krystal and Steven where them being pulled by a light into the other room. I left, trying to find help and I took the orb Steven had but the Sharpclaw captured me again and I dropped the orb down somewhere onto the planet."

"The orb…" Pearl pulled out the very orb Kyte was talking about. "It must have fallen into Thorntail Hollow where the shopkeeper found it."

Garnet looked back at Kyte. "Do you know what attacked them?"

Kyte shook her head and shivered slightly. "It wasn't a Sharpclaw. All I know is that when it attacked Krystal seemed to recognize it…And I felt very cold. Whatever it was it terrified me to no end."

"And you believe Scales had something to do with it?" Pearl asked.

"All I know is that the Earthwalker we met said that Scales unleashed a great evil into the palace. I have no idea what he meant by that but when that thing attacked us I think I understood why he wanted us to leave. Krazoa Palace was meant to be a sacred place to all dinosaurs but that…Thing has twisted it into something else. It is not the sanctuary it was meant to be anymore." Kyte said sadly.

The Gems all shared a look.

"That spirit guy never said nothing about some evil lurking over there." Amethyst commented. "You think he tricked us?"

"But why capture Steven? From what Kyte has told us it sounds more like this was a trap for this Krystal and not Steven." Peridot commented.

"Steven could have simply been caught up in the trap." Pearl said grimly.

"But what would trapping Krystal mean to anyone?" Connie asked.

"It doesn't matter. What matters now is we free Steven from that prison and discover what trapped him in there." Garnet said.

Fox finished speaking with the Cloudrunners and walked up to the Gems. "Ready to go?"

"Yes. We have much to do." Garnet nodded.

Fox nodded and opened his cockpit, allowing Connie and Peridot on while Lapis sprouted her wings and the other Gems shrunk themselves to fit into the cockpit.

The Arwing then took off and shot back to Dinosaur Planet, ready to return the second SpellStone to the Ocean Force Point Temple.

Xxx

( **End Theme** )


	14. Chapter 14

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

( **The Ocean Force Point Temple** )

Xxx

"Well, when we have this SpellStone back in the Ocean Temple we'll have to more to go and then the planet will be fixed." Fox said as the group returned to Cape Claw.

"But we're still no closer to rescuing Steven." Pearl said glumly.

"Hey, we can stop and check for a Krazoa Shrine." Tricky pointed out. "Four more spirits still need to be found. There's bound to be one nearby."

"Still, I don't like that we're collecting these stones and spirits while Steven is stuck in a giant crystal. I mean we're the Crystal Gems and we couldn't break a single stupid crystal." Amethyst grumbled.

"Any idea what could have attacked him and…Krystal?" Fox asked carefully.

"No idea." Garnet answered as they came upon the bridge over the river that would lead down to the temple.

"Crystal Gems, a giant crystal, and the girl trapped with Steven is named Krystal. Does anyone notice how odd that is?" Connie asked.

"Just a manner of coincidences, I am sure. Still, I wonder what brought this Krystal to this planet." Peridot admitted. "Her telepathic abilities are something never before encountered in organic life forms as well as the abilities showed by General Scales."

"The only one with telepathic powers I know of was Rose and she communicated with plants. But I have no clue of how Scales could be strong enough to defeat all of us. Not even Jasper was that strong." Pearl admitted.

"I think Scales may have something to do with whatever is happening in Krazoa Palace. My future vision was disrupted when I looked at him." Garnet said as they stopped at the entrance. "Similar to when Fox had a spirit inside him."

"No way! No way Scales could have a spirit inside him! Only pure hearts can enter a Krazoa Shrine and Scales doesn't have a heart!" Tricky exclaimed.

"Perhaps he found an indirect way." Peridot suggested. "Perhaps there are loopholes in the system set up by the Krazoa."

"But if he has a Krazoa Spirit what do we do?" Connie asked.

"Let's worry about that after we put the stone back." Fox said as they walked into the temple but saw the interior was blocked by a barred gate. "Not getting in that way and brute force won't work either. Some sort of that so-called magic makes simple wood too strong even for us."

"So where to next?" Connie asked.

"We look around and find the key." Fox said-retracing their steps, following the dirt path to its end and cross the bridge.

He ran along this ledge and climbed the ladder at the end of it. A few wooden platforms led to a set of glowing SharpClaw footprints, so he decided to make like a lizard and put on his SharpClaw Disguise. A small pool awaited him at the end of this short hallway he entered. One of the platforms in the pool sported a red switch.

"Tricky!" He called out as he climbed on and had Tricky stay on it while Fox paddled over to the newly risen pillar.

He hopped from there onto the ledge with the lever switch and hit said switch with his staff. He went back outside, hopped into the water, and swim through the passage where the waterfall formerly was. Fox climbed out at the other end and hopped down in to the next room, Ice Blasting the fire and stood in front of the statue. He took the Fire Gem and went outside through the door behind him.

On the next level of stone walkways, a room held two gaping statues. Fox put his Fire Gem into one of them, and then walked out.

"Man, you are good at this." Amethyst commented. "So now what?"

"One Firestone down, one more stone to go and we can get in." Fox said, looking at the beach. "And I know where the other one is."

Two SharpClaw are doubling up on a LightFoot. At least before Garnet kicked their tails and picked up a Firestone as the LightFoot ran off.

"And we're set." Fox said as they headed back to the cave with the gaping statues and they wall watched as Garnet put this new rock into the empty mouth.

But the gate didn't open.

"Oh come on!" Amethyst groaned.

Fox turned around and saw beside the door was a column with a lever behind it. He hit the lever switch beside it to bring it to ground level. And then looked up the interior of the Krazoa face and saw one of the eyes covered, preventing the light from shining down on one of the Flame Stones.

"Tricky, here. Stay." Once Tricky was on it while Fox hit the switch again to raise it. "Flame!"

Tricky used his flames to toast through the briar patch at the top, and the gate slid open.

"All right! We're in business!" Amethyst pumped a fist in the air as they walked into the hallway leading into the temple.

There was a switch in the center of the floor here, but it wasn't very helpful at the moment. They crossed the room to the closed gate, then turned around. Fox use Fire Blaster to hit the switch across the pool from them, and then hop into the water. They climbed out of the hallway and run down the hallway. Tricky eliminated the briars with his Flame and Garnet shoved the block they hid over the edge. Fox hit the switch again to lower the water, and Garnet then shoved the block onto the switch in the center of the room, opening the door to the next area.

Fox and the Gems stepped out onto a secluded beach, but the temple was still closed. One by one they climbed the ladder near the entrance, and the one on the next level. At the top, they were greeted by a shield-wielding SharpClaw. Garnet took him down in a second and they others walked towards a door and noticed something they had seen in the Volcano Force Point Temple.

Fox stood on the glowing pad he was standing behind and inserted his SpellStone to spin the gate, allowing them in. Once inside they went up the ramp and stepped on the large panel.

"Look." Connie pointed at the wall.

On the wall was a pattern of squares and when the Gems looked ahead they could see squares lining the floor in the middle of the large chamber. The grid system is mostly dark, with the occasional light square.

"I think these are meant to tell us how to get to the other side." Connie commented. "There have to be traps between us and the inner sanctum, right?"

Peridot nodded. "Those light squares must be safe to stand on."

"I can fly over." Lapis commented.

"What happens if we step on an area that's not highlighted?" Pearl asked.

"Let's find out." Amethyst walked up to one of the square tiles that was not highlighted and stepped on it. "WHOA!"

She was knocked back by a blast of electricity from the square she stepped on.

"They are electrified." Peridot commented, rushing up to Amethyst to check and see if she was okay. "A cunning trap. And if we don't follow the lit path we cannot make it across unless Lapis flies us over."

"Let's follow the path." Garnet said, being the first to cross the floor and take down the SharpClaw on the other side.

"Now where?" Pearl asked.

Fox pointed to the left. "I think I know where to go next."

"Here, let me help." Lapis sprouted her wings and grabbed Fox, the both of them flying into the next chamber, seeing a narrow ramp that split into three paths leading to three switches on the walls.

Lapis flew Fox to all three branches and he hit the switches at the end of each of them.

"What did they do?" Lapis asked.

Fox looked at the orb back in the center of the chamber and saw fire shifting color…Like before. "I know what to do."

When the flame was green, Fox Fire Blasted the orb beyond it, causing the Warp Pad to activate. One by one the group hopped onto the Warp Pad. They appeared in a giant chamber with large sliding doors that the group walked through and came into another large chamber with a strange structure in the center.

"Man this place is so confusing." Amethyst commented.

At the other end, Fox swam to the wall on the left and hit the switch there. Drop down and find the lever switch in the southwestern corner and hit it. The door opened, but not enough for Fox to swim through.

"Fox. Over there." Garnet pointed across from this latest switch to a SharpClaw pad.

Using his disguise Fox stood on it as a SharpClaw to slide open a panel, revealing a stone block. Garnet dragged this over to the perfectly shaped hole in the base of the tower on the south side. Fox then climbed on and jumped across to the water control switch. He hit the switch again to raise the water.

Lapis used her water powers to carry Fox and the others across the room and into the next one.

One of the walls in this room held a tiny grate with four Krazoa statues surrounding a platform in the center.

"So what is this?" Amethyst asked.

"Let's find out. Tricky, Flame." Fox said.

Tricky used his flame on the grate, causing four torches on the platform to lit and began spinning.

"What could the nature of this test be?" Peridot looked at the statues and saw a target symbol under each statue. "Those symbols."

Fox quickly hit each Fire Blaster target to cause a Krazoa statue to lean down and breathe ice onto the flames on the spinning platform in the center. When all four flames are extinguished, the next door opened. The next room had a small pit with a maze built into it with a block inside.

"I can almost guess what we need to do here." Amethyst said.

The puzzle in this room required them to move the block with the Fire Blaster targets through the small maze of sorts and into the slot with the red and green lights. As long as the block was touching the grey walls, it's all good. Otherwise, it will reset itself. Not cool in any sense of the word. The correct order to hit the panels became clear to them: West, south, east, north, west, south.

When the block slid smoothly into place, they went through the small doorway to the north, fining the Boost Pad in here and rocket up to the ledge. From there they followed the hallways until they reached a room with a shifting flame and orb set. Fox stood on the edge and used Fire Blaster to shoot through the flame and hit the orb, then walked across the bridge.

The group stood on the Warp Pad and headed for the final room.

"We made it." Connie smiled as they appeared in the same room they appeared in at the Volcano Temple.

Fox walked over to the pillar and placed the SpellStone they got from the Cloudrunners into the appropriate slot. The room shook as more of the energy coming up from the planet's core vanished.

"We did it!" Connie said, offering a high five to Amethyst and Peridot which they both accepted.

"Two stones down, two more to go." Fox said with a smile.

"And hopefully one step closer to saving Steven." Pearl said, looking at the stones solemnly.

( **End Theme** )


	15. Chapter 15

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

( **Test of Fear** )

Xxx

The Gems and Fox reappeared in the beach like area outside of the Ocean Force Point Temple after having returned the second SpellStone to its rightful place.

"Good job guys! Two SpellStones down! Two more to go!" Tricky said with a big smile. "We'll have the planet back together in no time!"

"So now what?" Amethyst asked.

"Well, I guess we head back to the Hollow and see what to do next." Fox suggested with a shrug. "Maybe the Queen will know if there are any places we could find around here that can help us…Like a Krazoa Shrine."

"You think a Shrine might be around here?" Connie asked with hope in her voice.

"Well, according to the spirit there are a total of six Krazoa shrines. Krystal and Steven freed one and then we freed another back at Moon Mountain Pass so there four more spirits that need to be found and released." Fox said as the group walked out of the temple. "Odds are that at least one shrine should be around here somewhere."

Pearl nodded. "And if we get another spirit the Warpstone will send us back to Krazoa Palace and we can try freeing Steven again."

"If the spirits let us." Garnet said grimly as the group was now leaving Cape Claw. "They sent us back as soon as Fox released the spirit he found. And then there was the danger Kyte spoke of."

The group became sullen at what Garnet said.

"Something in that place captured Steven for reasons we not know yet…I don't trust the Krazoa. They might know what is happening." Garnet stated.

"Yeah…I knew something was fishy about that spirit when it showed up." Amethyst as they walked through the tunnel leading back to Thorntail Hollow.

Only for them to be stopped by a small whimpering creature in the middle of the path.

"What is that?" Peridot whispered in fascination.

"Looks to be a young dinosaur." Connie said, slowly walking up to the small whimpering dinosaur.

Tricky looked up at the trees, seeing movement. "Uh…Connie, I got a bad feeling."

"You're not the only one." Garnet summoned her gauntlets. "Get ready!"

From the trees above came a loud cry as Lightfoots fell down onto the Gems. Only Garnet enlarged her fists and knocked most of them away. A Lightfoot leapt at Pearl but she spun past it and kicked it down while Amethyst used her Spin-Dash to knock out the rest of the Lightfoots. Lapis sprouted her wings, knocking away any Lightfoot foolish enough to attack her and Peridot.

"Retreat!" A Lightfoot shouted, running towards an opened gateway.

The rest of the Lightfoot group ran through the gate that began to close. Garnet quickly ran forward and stopped the gate from closing.

"Hurry!" Garnet shouted to the others.

The others rushed under the gate and Garnet let go once she was on the other side.

"What was that about?" Connie asked.

"Lightfoots are kind of hard to predict. They keep to themselves but like stealing from other tribes.' Tricky said as they walked through the village.

"Well, they certainly had no reason to attack us." Pearl scowled. "So why are we here?"

Garnet adjusted her glasses. "My future vision is becoming clouded again…I think a Krazoa Shrine is nearby."

"Really?!" Amethyst, Peridot, and Connie asked at the same time.

Garnet nodded. "Really."

"If we can get it we can get back to the Krazoa Palace." Pearl said, now excited.

"Where exactly?" Fox asked.

"That's where I am having trouble." Garnet answered. "I can't see the path to it. We might have to ask the locals where it might be."

"So we'll just beat the location of the shrine out of them." Amethyst said, palming her fist eagerly. "Let's find them!"

Lapis spotted a nearby hut and saw some Lightfoots. "I see them."

The water-Gem raised a hand, conjuring a path of water for the rest to walk on as they walked over to the hut. They stepped onto the bridge and walked up, seeing an elderly looking female Lightfoot glare at them from a chair, obviously made to look like a throne.

"How dare you come here?! You steal our treasure and trespass in our village! We'll have you chained and speared for that!" The Lightfoot spat.

"What treasure?" Fox asked.

"The one she," The Lightfoot pointed at Garnet. "Took from one of my subjects in Cape Claw!"

"I took nothing. He gave it to me and ran off." Garnet retorted.

"And you expect me to believe your lie?" The Lightfoot stood from her chair. "Leave this village!"

"Or what?" Amethyst challenged. "We kicked your butts already."

"We are here for the Krazoa Shrine." Pearl stated loudly for everyone to hear. "We know there is a shrine here."

"So what? The shrine is a sacred place, not meant to be entered by outsiders!" The elder Lightfoot spat.

"They are not outsiders!" Tricky shouted, stepping forward. "I am the Prince of the Earthwalker Tribe and they have already been deemed worthy to enter the shrines by the Krazoa themselves!"

The collective Lightfoot all gasped and whispered amongst themselves.

"My father spoke of how the Lightfoot tribe often kept secrets and were not afraid to lie even to their own fellow dinosaurs. The Krazoa need our help to save this planet and you are going to help us!" Tricky said, trying to sound like the sort of King he was meant to become one day.

"You tell him, Tricky!" Amethyst cheered.

The Elder Chief Lightfoot grimaced as she stood up. "Very well. You want our help you must pass two tests to earn your place as friend of the tribe. Do this and we'll show you the location of the shrine."

"What are the tests?" Fox asked.

"The first test is the Test of Speed. You must find and activate all totem poles in three minutes." The Elder looked at Fox's staff. "Your staff will be the key."

"Do we really have time for these tests?" Pearl asked.

"It's their custom, Pearl. We have to honor it." Tricky said with a shrug. "Maybe your spear can be used as a key too."

"We will take the test." Garnet looked at Fox and Pearl and touched their heads.

Their eyes widened as Garnet used her Future Vision to show them where the totem poles were located in the village.

"Get moving." Garnet said quickly and they both nodded.

Fox climbed climb back up the ladder and ran across the bridge towards first totem pole is on the island. Pearl jumped up next one is on top of the ledge behind the first Wooden Block. They used their staffs at the same time to activate the poles. Fox then hopped across two stepping stones that lead to the third totem pole which Fox activated while Pearl ran southeast.

She leapt up to the final totem pole that was resting on top of a pillar of stone and activated it, completing the test in under a minute.

"Yeah! You two got it!" Amethyst cheered as they returned.

"Not bad. Now we move onto the next test. The Test of Strength." The Chief Lightfoot grinned.

"Test of Strength, huh? Sounds like my kind of test." Amethyst said, cracking her knuckles.

The Chief led them and a crowd of Lightfoot to a totem pole near the entrance with a pit in front of it and grinned. "Let's see how strong you are."

From the Lightfoot crowed came a muscular Lightfoot that towered over Fox who shifted nervously but Garnet stepped forward. The two stood on both sides of the totem pull and when the Chief began the challenge they both started to push. The challenge was to keep pushing the totem pole on their sides until someone fell into the pit. The Lightfoot known as Musclefoot was strong but Garnet was a fusion of two gems, one of them made as a soldier of the Gem army with the strength to back it up.

Garnet pushed forward and a second later Musclefoot fell into the pit.

"Oh yeah Garnet!" Amethyst cheered.

"Well done. You are now recognized as allies of tribe." The Chief looked to the entrance behind her. "What you seek lies in there but the test will be much more difficult than ours."

"Thanks." Fox nodded gratefully.

Now that the door was open they entered the underground temple.

"Look, the way to the shrine is blocked." Fox pointed down at the bottom.

"Can't they just make it easy for us?" Amethyst complained.

"It is a sacred place." Tricky pointed out and looked at the totem pole in the middle. "Hey that totem pole is messed up."

"He's right. Why would it be like that?" Connie wondered.

"Probably part of the security." Fox guessed. "I imagine we have to place all parts of the pole back in order."

"Looks like it." Garnet agreed as they all climbed down.

"But do we do that? Given the size of it and all how we do we arrange it back in proper order?" Peridot asked.

Fox pulled out his staff and launched a fire blast as a part of the pole, the top around. "Like that."

Pearl pulled out her trident and followed Fox's example, helping him arrange the totem pole's part to match up. When the final portion was correctly aligned, the gate opened. They walked in and found a Warp Pad at the end of the hallways.

"This will take one of us straight to the Krazoa Shrine. But I got to warn you it's lined with traps and I have no idea what test the spirit will have." Fox explained. "Pass the test and the spirit will inhabit the body whoever does it until we head back to Krazoa Palace."

"We can't take the test." Garnet said, surprising everyone.

"Why not?" Pearl asked.

"The energy of the Krazoa, it's a form of energy that not only blocks out my future vision but if what the legend says is true their ability to control dark matter will make them a danger to us." Garnet explained.

"Of course!" Peridot gasped. "Our bodies are made of light energy and dark matter literally disrupts our bodies and even corrupt the energy matrix of our gems, killing us!"

"It can kill you?!" Connie gasped in horror.

Pearl nodded sadly. "Yes it can. Homeworld tried centuries ago to create a gem that could control and manipulate dark matter but the process was too unstable at the time. It was literally poison to Gems."

"Then only me and Fox can do it." Connie said, stepping onto the Warp Pad with Fox at the same time.

"Connie wai-" The Gems were cut off as Connie vanished in a flash of light.

Xxx

Fox and Connie appeared on another Warp Pad inside the Krazoa Shrine.

"Connie, why did you do that? I could have done this all by myself." Fox said, wishing Connie had not come.

"I know but I want to help Steven too." Connie said, hopping off the Warp Pad.

Fox shook his head as he entered the next room with Connie and bashed the SharpClaw crate to reveal a Boost Pad.

"Get on my back, Connie." Fox said as he held his staff over the pad.

Connie did so and Fox used the pad to launch them up to the next floor and into the next room which was full of flame shooters. Connie saw switch next to them and stood on it, opening a gate at the other end of the hallway.

"Let's go!" Fox said and they quickly darted through the flame shooters and made out, rolling under the gate just before it closed.

The next room had a large pool in the middle with spikes lined with the gate closed while another switch was next to the door the two had just come through.

"Here we go again." Fox said as he stepped onto the switch that opened the gate and began lowering the water.

"Whoa." Connie said, seeing all the spikes.

"Stay close to me and move quick." Fox said as he slipped into the water, followed quickly by Connie.

They had to be in the water as it lowered or risk jumping down and getting impaled by the spikes.

The two weaved through the spikes, determined not to touch them while moving as much as possible. They made it to the other side and climbed up the latter, making just in time again before the gate closed.

"I wonder what we have to do next." Connie wondered as they entered the next room.

The ladder in the next room led down to a pit holding a switch and a constant barrage of barrels.

"You had to ask." Fox sighed before climbing down to the bottom with Connie coming down after him. "Get on my back this time. These barrels are explosive and you aren't protected like I am."

Connie nodded, climbing onto Fox's back as he hit the switch and then made his way up the hill, avoiding the barrels. Rolling would have made it easier but with Connie on his back Fox left it all to weaving through the incoming barrels just as they made it to the tip and jumped through the closing door.

The next room held the Krazoa Spirit that waited for them. " _You have arrived. Have you come to take my test?_ "

"We have." Connie nodded.

" _The third test. The Test of Fear. You must stand and face your deepest fears. Do not react, attempt to attack or move out of the green circle. If you succeed I will be yours to take back to Krazoa palace._ "

"I'll take it." Fox said, offering to volunteer alone.

" _You will both take the test._ " The spirit said, vanishing from sight.

"Wait-"

 _Fox stopped as four ShadowHunters leapt out watery mirror and dashed around the pillars, making intimidating roars._

 _Connie took a deep breath, watching as the ShadowHunters ran behind the pillars, pressing her back to Fox as he looked around. Connie thought she wouldn't be scared but she felt a great unease inside of her as she looked around carefully. Four silhouettes appeared around them, breathing fire and ice that barely missed but caused them to step back. The ShadowHunters leapt out, snapping their teeth at Fox and Connie who could only dodge and ducked as a ShadowHunter leapt over them, skidding across the ground to the other end of the room._

 _It was then eerily quiet but Fox and Connie both felt their hearts beating rapidly as they heard what sounded like laughter._

 _Then it came._

 _Footsteps that shook the entire shrine and it was coming from behind them. They turned around and their eyes widened in sheer terror as above them towered a massive silhouette resembling General Scales knelt down and grabbed them, picking them up in its one giant hand and roared._

"AH!" Connie screamed out as she opened her eyes but when she looked around there was no massive ghost of Scales about to kill them.

Beside Fox looked equally shaken as he looked around, seeing no sign of the creatures they had faced.

" _You have passed the test._ " Both watched as the Krazoa spirit appeared before them again. " _You are the ones._ "

The spirit shot forward into Connie's chest, entering her body and shrouded her with a mystical purple glow as she floated off the ground for a second but came back down, landing softly on her feet and her opened her eyes, revealing the purple irises that Fox had gained after his test.

"Connie, are you all right?" Fox asked when she took a deep breath.

Connie nodded with a small smile. "I'm all right, Fox. Feels funny having a spirit inside you but really cool."

( **End Theme** )


	16. Chapter 16

**(Steven Universe Intro)**

 **(Path to the Walled City)**

Xxx

"I still say we should stay there until we free Steven!" Pearl said as the group returned to Thorntail Hollow.

"But we can't stay there long unless you want that spirit to remain inside Connie for who knows how long." Fox pointed out.

"Fox does have a point, Pearl." Peridot agreed but flinched when Pearl glared at her. "Don't look at me like that! I want to free Steven too you know! I am just pointing out that if we were unable to break that crystal before what are the chances we can succeed this time?"

"We'll use fusion then! Garnet and Amethyst can fuse with me and we'll-"

"That's too risky, Pearl." Garnet interrupted.

Pearl looked at Garnet with a look of betrayal. "Garnet!"

"Our fusions could bring down the entire palace and we'd risk hurting Steven or even worse." Garnet said.

"So we won't use Alexandrite or Sugilite. Opal or Sardonyx could get it done." Pearl said, determined to at least try.

"Hey!" Amethyst shouted, feeling insulted.

"Maybe I could try again. I could use the rain to make a drill, not large but enough to crack the crystal." Lapis offered. "I know I can free him like he freed me."

"But Lapis!" Peridot wanted to speak but Lapis glared at her. "We don't know if it's even possible for us to break that crystal. Those Krazoa things, they might be powering the crystal."

"Then I'll break them and the crystal." Lapis said darkly as the group reached the WarpStone.

Connie glanced at Lapis with a worried look. "Lapis…"

"So you found another spirit?" The WarpStone said as the group stood on the platform that floated up to its face. "Are you ready to go to Krazoa Palace?"

"Yes!" Pearl and Lapis said at the same time.

The WarpStone held up its left hand and when everyone walked onto the hand they vanished in a flash of light.

Xxx

The group looked around, finding themselves inside the familiar surroundings of the Krazoa Palace but this time they were inside the palace instead of out in the rain.

"So do you want me to track down where I need to release the spirit or do you want to see Steven first?" Connie asked.

Pearl looked down at Connie. "Let's see Steven. Even if we can't free him I'd like to see him."

Everyone agreed and walked through into the massive wind chamber that allowed them travel up the many floors to the top of the Krazoa Palace. Sure enough Steven and the woman named Krystal were still trapped in their crystal prison with two Krazoa spirits floating around it.

"Steven…" Both Pearl and Lapis were devastated at seeing Steven still in his horrible prison.

"Man, this is horrible." Amethyst whispered, just as heartbroken as Lapis and Pearl.

Peridot looked very upset to the point she was shaking just by looking Steven while Garnet was as still as a statue but it was hard to tell if she was crying or not thanks to the endless rain drops falling down her face and glasses. Connie looked at Steven, feeling so helpless at the fact that no one, not even she could help Steven escape.

"I won't leave him this time." Lapis clenched her fists and created a drill from the rain. "I WILL SAVE YOU STEVEN!"

Her water drill clashed with the crystal but despite the endless sparks that resulted from the drill the crystal did not even crack.

"Lapis!" Peridot cried out but Lapis ignored her and Pearl even helped by pulling out her spear and stabbed at the crystal. "It's not working!"

"Then I'll make a bigger drill!" Lapis replied, making her water drill bigger.

"Guys, it's not working." Amethyst said, actually as quiet as Garnet.

"Then we'll try something else!" Pearl shouted, turning to the others. "Let's fuse!"

"It won't work." Garnet answered miserably. "I can't see a future where any of our fusions breaks the crystal…Without bringing the palace down, killing us and Steven."

Pearl looked at everyone, seeing the hopeless looks on their faces. "But we have to do something!"

She could not just leave Steven in that…that…

She didn't want to say the word because she was a Crystal Gem!

"Pearl, we can help Steven. There are three spirits now but if we find the other three we can free Steven." Connie spoke up, stepping up to Pearl and hugging her.

Pearl looked down at Connie and hugged her back as tight as she could without hurting her human student. Lapis fell to her knees, crying softly as Peridot came up and hugged her. Fox had remained quiet the whole time, letting the Gems grieve for their friend. When they were finally done Fox brought up a map of Krazoa Palace and began looking for where Connie needed to release the spirit inside her. Slippy's scanners detected a familiar energy patter, similar to the security system at Cloudrunner Fortress on the second floor.

The group landed on the second floor and followed Fox until he led them to a door with an imprint of a Sharpclaw on it.

"I know how to deal with this." Connie donned her Sharpclaw disguise and instantly the door opened, showing a Krazoa statue like the previous ones.

Taking a deep breath Connie walked up to the statue and stood in front of it. Connie gasped as she fell to her knees, the spirit inside her taking control and she thrust her chest out as a purple mist emerged from her nose and mouth, forming into the spirit she had carried in her. The spirit phased into the statue and its eyes opened, glowing white and the third spirit flew to the top of the palace to be with the other two around the crystal prison. The statue then opened its mouth and the entire group was pulled in like before, vanishing from Krazoa Palace.

But not before the Gems made their promise.

"WE'LL SAVE YOU STEVEN!"

Xxx

The group found themselves back on the hand of the Warpstone as he set them down. The Gems were all quiet as they walked away, feeling more depressed at leaving Steven behind again.

Fox would have said something if not for the Lightfoot coming out of the cave, screaming for help. "My eggs! They are stealing my eggs! Please help!"

"Who is?" Fox asked, rushing up to the cave.

"Egg snatcher!" The Thorntail answered.

"Egg snatcher?! Fox, we got to help!" Tricky shouted, rushing into the cave.

The Gems followed Fox and Tricky into the cave and they spotted little dinosaurs surrounding a next of eggs, grabbing them.

"Leave those eggs alone!" Connie shouted, pulling out her sword and charging straight at the snatcher.

Fox quickly followed and whacked the nearest Egg-snatcher with his staff while Tricky used his flame breath to burn away the snatchers without hurting the eggs. The rest of the Gems quickly helped in driving off the snatchers.

The Thorntail mother rushed, happy to see her eggs safe. "You have saved my eggs from those evil creatures. Please let me repay you. I believe inside there is something that you seek."

A green light lit up in the cave, giving off a feeling of mysticism that was familiar to the group.

"Another magic cave." Connie said in awe.

"Thank you." Fox nodded and quickly jumped down into the cave.

"So now what?" Amethyst asked.

A howling sound echoed across the Hollow and Tricky perked up. "That's my mom calling! She might be in trouble."

A second later Fox emerged from the cave with his new upgrade. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Tricky's mother is calling." Pearl answered. "Perhaps she has news for us."

Fox nodded and the group quickly rushed over to the Queen's cave where she was waiting for them.

"Mom!" Tricky called out, entering the cave.

The Queen smiled when she saw them. "It's so nice to see you all. But I have some bad news. Son, your father has been taken prisoner within the Walled City."

"Is he okay?" Tricky asked frantically. "Guys, we got to help him! Quick!"

"He's right, Queen. Point us in the direction of the Gate Keeper and we'll rescue him." Fox agreed.

"I wish it were that simple. You see, Tricky's father _is_ the Gate Keeper!" The Queen told them.

"Dad's a Gate Keeper?" Tricky gaped.

Fox and Amethyst groaned. "That's all we need."

"Yes and wise one at that." The Queen threw a sharp look at Fox and Amethyst. "When Scales came to our land your father knew that the Sharpclaw would come for him and so he hid his Gate Keeper powers behind this sacred seal."

The Queen gestured behind at a strange looking door with a singular keyhole.

"I am sorry but I cannot break the seal. Maybe you might have some idea." The Queen said, looking back at Fox and the group.

"I think I do." Fox pulled out his staff. "Just in the nick of time."

Fox walked up to the door and placed the bottom of his staff into the key hole. To the shock of everyone watching the door shrunk and vanished, allowing a blast of blue misty energy to shoot out into the sky, opening the path to the Walled City.

"You did it!" Tricky exclaimed.

"Is that your new upgrade, Fox?" Connie asked.

Fox nodded as he walked up to the group. "Yep, some sort of key ability that can open mystic doors. Now that we can reach the Walled City we'll save Tricky's dad and get the next SpellStone."

( **End Theme** )


	17. Chapter 17

**(Steven Universe Intro)**

 **(The Red-Eye Tribe)**

"So the Walled City is like the Earthwalker kingdom?" Connie asked as the group approached Fox's Arwing.

"Yep. It's one of the most beautiful places on the planet." Tricky said proudly.

Fox's communicator beeped and he answered, seeing Peppy's hologram. "Hey, Peppy. What's up?"

" _This is dangerous ground Fox! Walled City was once the EarthWalker's home, but it has been overrun by the deadly Red-Eye tribe. General Scales has imprisoned the King EarthWalker within its walls. You must rescue the King and find that SpellStone! Hurry Fox! Those nasty beasts are mighty hungry! Peppy out!_ " Peppy before ending communications.

"The Red-Eye Tribe?!" Tricky exclaimed, now shaking.

"Who are the Red-Eye Tribe, Tricky?" Connie asked.

"A tribe of dinosaurs that has been enemies with my tribe for a long time before they were locked in the temple of the Walled City. They are a nasty bunch of dinosaurs that eat only meat which was a problem for all the other tribes." Tricky explained.

"Only meat?" Connie questioned, thinking of what kind of dinosaurs the Red-Eye Tribe could be.

"Yeah and they were so barbaric they make the SharpClaw look civilized." Tricky nodded. "But they are so tough that only my tribe could take them on. We were lucky enough to seal the Red-Eye King himself in the main temple. My dad said he was bigger than even the WarpStone."

The Gems and Fox all shared a look at what Tricky had said.

"Sounds we'll be needing to pack some serious fire power." Fox stated.

Garnet nodded. "Agreed."

"We take the SpellStone there we'll have one more to get before we can finally put the planet back together." Pearl said. "Once all the stones are back we can concentrate on finding all the spirits and saving Steven."

"Two stones and two spirits. Yeah, we'll have this done in no time." Amethyst nodded with a big smile.

"Let's remember to be careful. We don't know what the Red-Eye are truly capable of and what else Scales might have done." Garnet cautioned.

Fox nodded as he opened his Arwing's cockpit. "Good news is then we are all ready for it."

Tricky nodded as he climbed into the cargo hold. "We so totally are!"

Xxx

As the Arwing and Lapis flew through the asteroid field surrounding Sauria Connie caught glimpse of the _Great Fox_. "So that's your ship?"

Fox nodded. "Yep. The _Great Fox_ , flagship of Team Starfox and our home."

Peridot looked at the ship and could not help but feel less impressed. "It does not look to be in prime condition."

"Yeah. Eight years since the war and there hasn't been a lot of work for a mercenary team in peace times." Fox nodded, keeping his eyes forward.

"I remember Slippy saying something about a war. What happened?" Connie asked, not able to help herself.

"Well…I suppose it all goes back to Corneria and a man named Andross." Fox frowned as he remembered. "A brilliant but mad scientist who nearly turned the entire planet into a wasteland near extinction. He was captured by General Pepper of the Cornerian Army and exiled to the barren deserted planet Venom for his crimes. Five years later General Pepper noticed strange activity coming from Venom and hired the original Starfox team to investigate."

"The original team? So the current team now is not the original?" Peridot spoke up.

Fox nodded again. "My father, James McCloud along with Pigma Dengar and my mentor, Peppy Hare. General Pepper hired them to investigate what was happening on Venom. When they arrived…"

Pearl who had shrunk herself down and sat on Fox's shoulder with Amethyst and Garnet noticed the look in Fox's eyes. "Fox…"

Fox closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "When they arrived on Venom Pigma betrayed the team and sold my father and Peppy to Andross who had somehow not only survived but also converted Venom into the capital of an empire he was building. My father sacrificed himself to give Peppy the chance to escape and barely made back to Corneria to tell me what happened."

"Your father sacrificed himself?" Connie gasped. "Oh Fox, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have asked…"

"It's all right." Fox smiled down at Connie. "My dad died saving his friend's life and that was the kind of man he was. I quit the Cornerian military academy and began training to become the new leader of the Starfox team, readying myself for when Andross would make his move. A few years later Andross declared war and invaded the entire Lylat System. I fought against him with my friends and eventually we destroyed Andross and avenged my father along with all the other people he had killed."

"Wow…"Amethyst remarked, sounding impressed. "We're working with a war-hero who is not a Gem. How cool is that?"

"By the sound of that you guys have been through a war of your own." Fox retorted with a smile.

"You could say that." Pearl looked away slightly.

Garnet chose to speak up. "Since you have been honest with us, Fox we will be honest with you. Yes, we fought in a war and like you it was against an army invading the planet we had sworn to protect. Our home world wanted to colonize Earth but doing so would have destroyed the people already living there and we along with other Gems decided that was not fair to the Earth. We fought our own people in a war that lasted a long time, losing a lot of good friends along the way until Homeworld was finally driven off but the price we paid was us being the last of the Crystal Gems."

Fox glanced at Garnet. "And Steven?"

"He's the son of our leader, Rose Quartz. She was the one who rallied us to stand up against Homeworld and to be something other than what we were made to. She gave us a choice that the leaders of our race would not have allowed us to make. She gave up her physical form so Steven could live and now…" Garnet trailed off. "We were supposed to protect him but we cannot seem to do that very well."

"But Garnet, Steven loves you all and he'd never think you failed!" Connie spoke up. "It's not your fault this all happened! It was all an accident but I know we'll save Steven!"

"Connie is right. With your powers and skills and my intelligence we'll have Steven freed shortly!" Peridot nodded in agreement, her voice thick with confidence.

Pearl smiled sadly. "Connie, Peridot…"

"Yeah, they're right!" Amethyst pumped a fist in the air. "We got this far already! We can go all the way!"

Garnet nodded in agreement, a small smile forming on her face. "Yes, we will save Steven…And this planet."

The Arwing and Lapis reached the end of asteroid field and reached the giant landmass that was the Walled City, penetrating the force field.

"We made it through. Okay, now we just need a safe landing place." Fox said, looking down at the city below.

It was not so much a city as it was a round area, surrounded by a wall, with pyramids surrounding a river, which surrounds a bigger, principal pyramid.

"There." Peridot pointed down at an open area on the far side of the city, resembling a platform. "There is sufficient room there to land the ship."

Fox nodded. "That'll work."

Fox angled the Arwing down and slowly landed down on the open area safely. The cockpit opened up and the three shrunken Gems jumped out, taking their normal size as Fox helped Connie and Peridot out of the cockpit. Lapis landed next to the Arwing, dismissing her water wings while Tricky came out of the compartment.

"So this is where the Earthwalker tribe lives?" Connie asked, looking across the new land they had just arrived in.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Tricky asked prideful.

"And no guards." Fox remarked as they walked across the bridge.

And they soon realized there was no need for guards when they cross the bridge and saw the temple of the Walled City surrounded by very large dinosaurs.

And they were not ordinary dinosaurs.

"Tyrannosaurus Rex!" Connie gasped in awe, seeing the fabled Kings of Dinosaurs surrounding the temple.

"The what?" Tricky asked.

"We call them that on our planet." Connie explained. "They were carnivores, eating only meat and were considered the largest of dinosaurs."

"They certainly fit that description." Peridot admitted, having never before seen creatures like these Tyrannosaurus Rex before.

"These guys are the greatest enemies of my tribe." Tricky shook slightly. "They are always hungry and they never eat anything but meat. Especially live meat."

Connie nodded in agreement. "That's right. The T-Rex were pure hunters."

"Sounds like my kind of crowd." Amethyst pumped a fist. "Let's take 'em down!"

Amethyst curled into a ball and shot towards the nearest Red-Eye that quickly detected her and charged to meet her head on. Amethyst collided with the Red-Eye's red, knocking it back but seemingly only dazing it. The Red-Eye growled and tried to eat Amethyst but Pearl jumped in, slashing at its face with her spear. The Red-Eye roared and whipped its tail at Pearl and Amethyst, knocking them away.

"Amethyst, Pearl, fall back!" Garnet called out.

The two Gems reluctantly ran from the Red-Eye, meeting the others back on the other side of the bridge.

"Why'd you call us back? We could have taken that lizard down." Amethyst complained.

"That's not what we needed to do. We need to light the furnaces." Garnet pointed at the two buildings on both sides of the temple.

"Those are furnaces?" Fox asked.

Garnet nodded, having seen what would happen with her Future Vision. "They'll lead us to the Earthwalker King."

"Dad?!" Tricky gasped.

"He's being held under the temple, near some sort of gate." Garnet explained. "There are two statues on either side of the gate. One red and one blue."

"The furnaces have the sun and the moon symbols on them. They are part of a security system my tribe used to lock the Red-Eye King up." Tricky suddenly said.

"Is he guarding the king's cell?" Fox asked.

"Maybe."

Following on what she said the Gems and Fox avoided the Red-Eyes, splitting up with Fox and Tricky lighting up the sun furnace while Garnet used her flame powers to light the moon furnace. The two furnaces opened a path leading underground that the group followed down, finding the Earthwalker King himself at the bottom of the path.

"Dad!" Tricky rushed forward, beyond happy to see his father.

"Tricky!" The King smiled, brushing his face against Tricky's skin. "I am so glad to see you are safe." He looked at the Gems and Fox. "Ah and you have brought the famous Fox McCloud and the Crystal Gems, the heroes of Dinosaur Planet."

Fox rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment while Peridot puffed her chest out and Amethyst flexed her muscles. "That's right!"

"Yeah, about that-" Fox started.

"Before you ask: no I don't have the Spellstone." The King said, answering Fox's unasked question. "It is hidden in the chamber behind me, the lair of the Red-King."

"The King is behind those gates?" Amethyst asked, looking at the gate and noticed the blue and red statues on both sides of the gate. "Hey, these guys are missing a tooth."

The King nodded. "Yes. Each requires a golden tooth to be placed in them to enter the lair of the Red-King. Scales left the Spellstone with the King, confident that not even you could get it."

"We'll see about that." Amethyst smirked.

"Where are the teeth?" Fox asked.

"They are hidden behind life force barriers, powered by the very life force of the Red-Eye tribe. You cannot breach the barriers until the Red-Eye on the surface have been slain." The King answered.

"You mean kill them?" Connie asked, shocked at the idea.

The King nodded. "Scales cast the barrier himself, intending to pit you against the entire Red-Eye Tribe."

"Well, he's certainly comes prepared." Fox admitted. "Taking down those guys will not be easy, even with all of us working together."

"And we Crystal Gems have sworn not to kill any living being." Garnet admitted, adjusting her glasses. "Scales must have wanted to use this against us."

"So what do we do?" Pearl asked.

"I can handle it." Fox said, pulling out his staff.

"There might be a way to increase your chance." The King spoke, earning everyone's attention again. "There is a mystic cavern somewhere in the Walled City. I believe whatever lies in there can give you what you need."

( **End Theme** )


	18. Chapter 18

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

( **Wrath of the King** )

"All right, Fox will go and find this mystic cavern. The rest of us will go and take care of the Red-Eyes." Garnet said as the group left the Earthwalker King's chamber. "Once the Red-Eyes are neutralized we'll locate the golden teeth."

Fox nodded. "Good luck you guys."

"Connie, Peridot, Tricky, you stay behind us. These monsters are too dangerous for you three to take on." Garnet instructed.

Peridot nodded. "Got it."

"Crystal Gems, let's move!"

With that said the Gems split up, picking a Red-Eye as an opponent and attacked. It wasn't easy but one by one the Gems brought down their Red-Eye targets. When the last one fell the life force barrier protecting the locations of the golden teeth dropped. Following her future vision Garnet crossed the bridge, and fired at the switch in the tree next to the EarthWalker with her gauntlet, lighting a fire.

She then went to the other end of this area to find another EarthWalker and tree. She fired at another switch to light another flame before heading toward the Sun Furnace and follow the path behind it to another EarthWalker, tree and switch. The last EarthWalker, tree and switch were near the Arwing. After hitting the fourth switch, a ring of light appeared in the river.

Going to the waterfall, Garnet jumped into the river and swam through the ring. This will triggered a river race through more rings. At the end was a building that held the silver tooth. She saw that she would need Fox's staff to open it and simply took the container with her.

"One down, one to go." Garnet whispered, following her Future vision to the next one.

Luckily this one was much easier as once all the Red-Eye were down all she had to do was follow the path to the shrine it was in. Once she had both containers she took them back to the Earthwalker King's sanctuary and saw Fox waiting for her.

"Did you get what you need, Fox?" Garnet asked.

Fox nodded. "It's an attack that create shockwaves that travel through the ground. I believe it is called Ground-Quake."

Garnet nodded and placed the containers on the ground. "They need your staff to open them."

Fox nodded and used his staff to unlock and open the containers, taking out the silver and golden teeth.

"Place them in their rightful place and the lair of the Red-Eye King will be opened." The Earthwalker King instructed.

The Gems and Fox placed the teeth in their rightful places, causing the floor between them to sink, creating a ramp leading before the room.

"Well, here we go." Fox said, being the first to travel down into the darkness.

Xxx

The Gems and Fox emerged into a massive hallway that split off in two directions, torches and the markings lining the walls.

"So where's the big bad Red-Eye King?" Amethyst asked, looking around. "I was thinking there would be a-"

 **RRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!**

 **STOMP!**

 **STOMP!**

 **STOMP!**

The Gems along with Fox and Tricky watched with horror filled eyes as a giant Red-Eye walked around corner and spotted them with red predatory eyes as it let out another roar.

"…Okay, that's more like it!" Amethyst exclaimed in excitement.

"It's as big as a Diamond!" Peridot shouted in shock, awe and a little horror.

"A giant T-Rex!" Connie gulped. "Oh if Mom and Dad knew about this they'd ground me and lock me up!"

Fox noticed that embedded into the giant Red-Eye's forehead was a Spellstone. "It's got the Spellstone in its head!"

"Crystal Gems," Garnet spoke. "We need to fuse!"

Amethyst and Pearl nodded and quickly performed their fusion dance with Garnet.

"What are they doing?" Fox asked, watching the dance with Connie, Peridot and Lapis.

"Fusion." Connie answered.

Just as the Red-Eye King charged at them Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet fused to form Alexandrite who towered over their friends, matching the Red-Eye King in size. The Red-Eye King slammed into her but she pushed back with her six hands, grunting slightly before summoning Garnet's gauntlets and slugged the Red-Eye King in the face.

"Whoa!" Fox watched in amazement.

"This is so cool!" Tricky said excitingly.

"Yeah, it's good." Peridot admitted.

The Red-Eye King roared and lunged at Alexandrite, aiming its teeth at her throat but Alexandrite ducked and punched it in the chest, forcing it back. The lair made it difficult for the two giants to fight since there was little room. The Red-Eye King bit down on one of Alexandrite's arms, using its strength to try and tear her arm off but Alexandrite merely grunted as she kneed the giant dinosaur in the chest, forcing it to release her arm. She then followed up with several uppercuts, her fists slamming into the Red-Eye King's face and forcing to stagger back until it slammed into the wall.

"I'll take that!" Alexandrite grabbed the Spellstone embedded in the king's forehead.

The Red-Eye King roared in rage as it tried one last time to attack her but Alexandrite grabbed it with all six of her arms. "You need a time out!"

A blast of electricity coursed through her hands, shocking the Red-Eye King who howled in pain before finally falling over.

"Whoa…" Tricky said while Fox and the others could only look on in amazement and admiration.

"Not bad." Peridot crossed her arms.

Alexandrite glowed and her form shrank down, splitting back into the three Gems who formed her with Garnet holding the SpellStone.

"Let's get out of here." Garnet said, holding the stone up.

Xxx

"Dad, dad!" Tricky called out in excitement as he, Fox, and the Gems approached the Arwing where the King was waiting. "Look what we've got!"

Garnet held up the SpellStone for the king to see.

"Well done! You have all made me very proud." The King said, looking down at Tricky with pride. "Do not worry, son. I will stay in the city until it is returned to the planet."

Tricky seemed saddened by that which his father noticed. "I will see you again soon. Now let's waste no time. You have a SpellStone to take back to the volcano."

The group nodded, saying their goodbyes to the king and boarded the Arwing while Lapis sprouted her water wings and took off, leaving the Walled City behind.

Xxx

" _The King Earthwalker is very grateful, Fox and Crystal Gems! You saved him from those blood-crazed Red-Eye!_ " General Pepper said, congratulating them all. " _Take this SpellStone to the Volcano Force Point. It will close the seal at the Volcano and you'll be one step closer to bringing the planet back together. Get to it, Fox. You know the way. Pepper out._ "

"It was great of us to help Tricky save his dad." Connie said once Pepper cut the line. "I hope they don't stay apart for long."

"Well, with the Volcano Temple sealed again we'll just have one more to go." Fox said, piloting the ship back to the planet.

"And one step closer to freeing Steven." Pearl sighed, looking out the cockpit window.

"Don't worry, guys. As soon as we get the SpellStone back to the Temple I'll contact Slippy about word of any Krazoa Shrines." Fox added, trying to sound helpful. "There are at least three more to go."

"That is true." Garnet nodded, grateful for Fox's consideration.

Pearl smiled a bit. "Yes. We'll make it."

( **End Theme** )


	19. Chapter 19

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

( **Return to the Volcano** )

It was easy to return to the Volcano Force Point Temple and make their way through to the lava- filled room where you use the SpellStone a third time to enter the temple.

"Okay, once we're done here. We only have one left." Fox said as they entered the temple.

"Good to hear." Lapis said, flinching from the fire. "I prefer the Ocean Temple to this."

"I actually do not mind since the Volcano Temple sits on melted peridotite." Peridot said as they came upon a room with moving platforms.

"We need to put the fires out." Garnet said, her Future Vision directing them.

Going on her instructions they put the fires until they reached the climbable wall which they then climbed and headed to the door, dodging fire jets and used the elevator to go up.

"Look." Amethyst pointed up, seeing flames of different colors.

"We have to put them out in a special order." Garnet said as they climbed the ladder, then extinguished the flames in the order Garnet said: blue, green, red, yellow.

The door will open, so follow the path and go through. They then spotted a switch which Tricky stood on, summoning a ladder to climb.

"More flames?" Amethyst asked as Garnet reached the top and put out the fire, then activate the switch.

The two climbed back down and went through the door they just opened. In this room, the Gems helped Fox, Connie and Peridot reach to the warp platform at the top of the room. A second later they were in the same chamber where the other two Spellstones had been placed and Fox added the third.

"Three down, one to go." Fox said before they were warped away.

Xxx

"So that's three down and one more to go." Pearl said as the group left the Volcano Temple. "What now?"

"Well, considering we just finished with a Spellstone we can maybe look for another Krazoa shrine." Fox suggested, tapping his wrist communicator. "Slippy, have you got any word on a Krazoa shrine?"

" _Well I can tell ya that ya won't find any more in Moon Mountain Pass. Given the ones you found there and in places close to lands where a Spellstone was kept I think the best lead will be in the Frozen Wastelands._ "

"The Snowhorns!" Tricky exclaimed. "Maybe they know where we can find one!"

"It is remote enough to hide a shrine." Pearl agreed.

"We'll need to stop at the shop in Thorntail Hollow then. You Gems can handle the cold but Connie doesn't have any clothing or gear for the weather over there." Fox pointed out, gesturing to Connie who nodded.

"Yeah. I've learned survival skills in the wild but I can't handle the kind of temperature without a heavy coat." Connie admitted.

"And we'll need a map of that place." Fox continued. "The wastelands are vast and if we have to spend more than a day there we'll definitely need a map and food."

"Agreed." Garnet nodded.

One step closer to saving the planet and saving Steven.

( **End Theme** )


	20. Chapter 20

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

( **The Test of Strength** )

"So we get some winter gear for me and then head up to SnowHorn Wastes to see if there is a Krazoa Shrine." Connie said, going over the plan as the Gems and Fox returned to Thorntail Hollow.

"Sounds easy enough." Amethyst said, folding her arms behind her head.

"The trick will be whatever test we have to follow through next if and when we find the next shrine." Fox pointed out.

"Right. Fox, you handled the first test. What was it?" Connie asked.

"The Test of Combat. I fought several Sharpclaw the spirit in that shrine conjured." Fox answered.

"And I faced the Test of Fear." Connie shuddered. "I was literally shaking and had to fight the urge to scream several times."

"Man, sounds like I missed out on some fun." Amethyst commented.

"I wonder what other tests we will have to face." Pearl wondered as they emerged from the cave, coming back to Thorntail Hollow.

As soon as they set into the area, the ThornTails were suddenly be set upon by evil, cackling bat-like creatures.

"What in the world?!" Fox exclaimed, pulling out his staff.

"It's those bat things!" Connie shouted, watching in horror as the bat creatures attacked the Thorntails without mercy.

"Hey! Step off!" Amethyst shouted, pulling out her whip and lashing at the bat creatures.

The Gems and Fox quickly rushed across the valley, taking out the bat creatures harassing the Thorntails, driving them off with a few fire blasts from Fox's staff or a laser shot from the tip of Pearl's spear.

"Man, I hate those freaks." Amethyst grunted as she put her whip away.

Fox sheathed his staff. "These problems with the Thorntails keep on making it difficult to get the job done."

"Yeah but it's not their fault. Pretty much everyone is used to living in fear these days." Tricky pointed out.

"Yeah. We can't blame them for that." Connie couldn't help but agree. "So now what?"

"I'll take a look around the store and look for a map of Snowhorn Wastes." Fox said, heading for the cave the Gems had appeared in when they first appeared in this dimension.

"Is it me or are we running in circles because of this whole Krazoa thing?" Amethyst asked out loud. "We returned two Spellstones and we still got to find these spirits to save Steven and a whole planet."

"Amethyst, I know you are frustrated and I am just as frustrated as you are but we've tried everything else." Garnet said calmly. "Steven's survival is dependent on the planet's survival."

"I know, I know but we're running around in circles." Amethyst complained. "We can't even go to where Steven is without a lousy spirit."

"Well, at least I can carry a spirit like Fox can. Maybe we can split up and get the rest of the spirits even faster." Connie suggested.

"That would not be a good idea." Garnet replied.

"Why not?"

"We still have to deal with the Scales and the Sharpclaws. We can handle Sharpclaw but Scales is another story." Garnet explained.

"She's right." Pearl sadly agreed. "The three of us went up against Scales in Cloudrunner Fortress and he defeated us with shockingly little effort. We didn't even scratch him."

"We'll see about that the next time we see him. We can just fuse and take him down." Amethyst suggested.

Before anyone else could speak up Fox emerged from the cave, carrying what looked like a golden Snowhorn tusk. "Hey, guys. Got a few items."

"What's with the tusk?" Amethyst asked.

"The shop keeper said it was an artifact she 'found' in Snowhorn Wastes. There's a chance she stole it and it could mean something to the Snowhorns." Fox answered, placing the artifact in his pack. "And I bought a snow coat and gear for Connie."

Xxx

A hour later the group had returned to Snowhorn Wastes with Connie now wearing winter jacket, snow pants and boots.

"So any idea where to go?" Amethyst asked.

"Guess we have to ask around if this artifact means anything." Fox shrugged.

"I got an idea about that." Garnet offered.

She led the group, turning left at the BribeClaw and heading up the slope, behind the sign pointing to ThornTail Hollow, leading to a small pool of water is spanned by a few chunks of ice. One by one they hopped across, except for Lapis who simply flew across with her wings and came upon a Snowhown with dark blue fur.

"Excuse me, but would this artifact happen to be yours?" Garnet asked as Fox showed him the artifact.

"I don't believe it!" The Snowhorn exclaimed. "This item was stolen from me many years ago. I believe it was around the same time…That a strange floating dinosaur visited the Wastes."

"No surprise there." Amethyst muttered.

"In return I will give you the chance to prove yourselves." The Snowhorn continued and stomped down on the ground.

A platform rose up from under Fox's feet.

"The call of the Snowhorn will begin your challenge." The Snowhorn said.

"I got this." Garnet said, taking the horn from Fox. "Tricky, I need you to melt the ice wall behind the Snowhorn."

Tricky did as instructed and as he did that Garnet blew the horn before running through the opening left behind by the melted wall and followed the path around to the stream. She jumped over the river and kicked down a tree, making a makeshift bridge that she ran over, reaching the next pad. She blew the horn and then headed for the river further along the same path.

She then crossed the tree she knocked down; reaching the pad is on the other side. After this one, she ran past the SharpClaw patrolling the area and jumped off the cliff. The fourth pad was at the bottom which she stood on and blew the horn. Her Future Vision then told her to run straight past the BribeClaw ahead of her for the next pad, and go through the gate nearby and head over to the Gatekeeper for pad number six.

The final pad was on the other side of the river which she reached by crossing makeshift bridge and climbed the wall beyond it. The pad was at the top which she stood on and blew the horn one final time. Her Future Vision showed an entrance to a cave and inside was a Krazoa Shrine.

"Bingo." She said as she returned to the others.

"Well?" Pearl asked as Garnet returned.

"I finished the test. It opened an entrance to a cave at the end. There's a Krazoa Shrine inside." Garnet answered, giving the horn back to Fox.

Fox nodded. "Then we all know what comes next."

Xxx

As with most Shrines, this one was relatively straightforward for Fox. As soon as he materialized in the he shrine he straight into the next room and climbed the ladder. Once as he was at the top he looked around, seeing an explosive barrel in the next room. He walked up to it and turned around, seeing the flying bat like creatures from the Hollow and a narrow walkway over a pit. Pulling out his staff he shot the flying things, then grabbed the nearby Fuel Barrel from the niche in the previous room and ran across the walkway.

He tossed it at the cracked wall on the other side and continued one. The next room consisted of a moat with a robot hovering on the side Fox was on with a keyhole. The robot resembled the kind of ones that were used to transport objects and Fox knew he needed it for something. Knowing what to do next Fox went back to grab another barrel, carrying this one into the next room and set it down on the Barrel Pad.

He hit the lever switch to turn off the first flame shooter. After the Fuel Barrel was past the first flame jet which was inactive at the moment, he hit the lever switch again to turn off the second one. He then hit the switch one last time on the other side of this one to clear the way past the third flame jet. Once the barrel was on the other side he jumped into the water and swam over.

He grabbed the Fuel Barrel again and tossed it into the wind tunnel before hopping in himself and bumped it over to the other side, then picked it up carried it over to the other side into a room with three pillars of flames lit up, protecting a cracked wall. Fox waited for the central flames to cease. He tossed the barrel over and blasted the wall into oblivion, entering the Spirit's room.

Fox walked up to the spirit, waiting patiently for the spirit to explain the next test.

" _Test Four – The Test of Strength. Use your strength against this SharpClaw. If you succeed I will become yours to return to Krazoa Palace._ " The spirit explained and began the test.

A blue SharpClaw appeared and on the other end of the room with a large sculpted structure rising from the floor between them.

'This must be what I must push.' Fox thought, placing his hand on the structure and started pushing.

Fox grunted slightly as he slowly pushed forward, finding it surprisingly easy to overpower the SharpClaw as he pushed the wheel like structure around in a complete circle. When he reached the other side the structure shrunk back into the ground and the SharpClaw vanished. Fox watched as the spirit emerged from the water like mirror and approached him

Fox waited until the time was right and the spirit shot straight at him, entering his body.

Four spirits down, two more to go.

Xxx

The Warp Pad lit up and Fox was back in the Frozen Wastelands, the Crystal Gems and Tricky waiting for him.

"You're back!" Tricky said excitedly. "Did you get the spirit?"

Fox nodded, showing his purple irises to the group. "Four spirits down now."

"Sweet." Amethyst grinned.

"We can get back to Krazoa Palace and check on Steven." Pearl said, smiling a bit.

"Let's just remember. There's a lot more to these spirits than we know." Garnet said stoically. "Let's be careful when we get there."

( **End Theme** )


	21. Chapter 21

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

( **Dragon Rock** )

The group was warped into the same room that they usually appeared in after the second trip to Krazoa Palace. After they arrived in the palace Pearl immediately headed to the top of the palace to check on Steven, seeing nothing had changed since the last time they had seen him. After a long period of the Gems and Connie speaking to Steven the team found the statue to release the spirit to and were warped back to Thorntail Hollow.

" **Fox my boy! You and the Crystal lassies are doing great! Three Spellstones down and only one to go!** " The WarpStone said as he put them down. " **You seem to be getting the hang of this. Now then, it's time for you all to go to Dragon Rock. Your toughest challenge yet.** "

"Sounds like a nice place." Amethyst commented dryly.

"That's easy for you to say but where do we find the gate keeper?" Fox asked.

The WarpStone glanced to the valley, seeing the Thorntails that populated it. " **He is closer than you realize. He who has no voice has plenty to say.** "

"O-kay." Amethyst said slowly. "Can we have another hint without a riddle?"

Garnet tapped her visor. "I got an idea."

She led the group away from the WarpStone towards a single Thorntail who ate away from the rest of the Thorntails. "There. You are the gate keeper to Dragon Rock."

"Really?" Amethyst and Pearl asked at the same time.

"I noticed something about him apart from the rest of the Thorntails from the first day but I could find no future where he was a threat." Garnet explained.

"I should have guessed there was something odd about you." Fox commented as the Thorntail slowly faced them. "You were always the quiet one amongst the rest of your friends. The WarpStone said we should find you."

The Thorntail had a saddened look on its face. "Hmm…I haven't spoken since something terrible happened. Something that I am ashamed to admit." The Thorntail walked away from its tree. "I too attempted to save our planet but I failed."

"What happened?" Connie asked, affected by the Thorntail's sadness.

"I led a group of dinosaurs against General Scales. He learned of our plan before we could act and launched a full scale offensive against us." The Thorntail closed its eyes in shame before continuing. "We never stood a chance. He imprisoned three of my closest friends on Dragon Rock and it is also where he has taken the Spellstone."

"I am so sorry." Connie said, feeling sympathy for the Thorntail along with the rest of the group, including Lapis who knew all too well what it felt like to be a prisoner.

"So how did you escape?" Amethyst asked.

"He didn't." Garnet answered for the Thorntail. "He was allowed to leave."

"Why would he be left free?" Peridot asked.

"For the same reason Scales imprisoned the Snowhorn and Cloudrunner Gate Keepers here on this planet." Garnet answered.

Fox looked at the Thorntail. "If Scales let you go that could only mean…"

"I am the Gate Keeper." The Thorntail answered, prompting a cheer from Tricky while opening its mouth and released a burst of energy that shot into the sky.

But he wasn't the only one.

All the Throntails in the hollow opened their mouths, releasing the same energy into the sky, creating a tunnel much like the one leading to the Walled City. "The gateway to Dragon Rock is now open. Please help my friends. They are on your side."

"We will." Connie nodded.

Xxx

" _The situation is bad, Fox. General Scales has unleashed the full force of the planet's dark energy, mutating Dragon Rock into a desolate wasteland. He has captured a number of Dinosaurs and is planning to change them into powerful killing machines! It's rumored that one such creature already exists!"_ Slippy said as the Arwing took off. _"This final SpellStone should bring Dinosaur Planet back together. Slippy out..._ "

"That doesn't sound good." Connie said, sitting on Fox's lap. "Changing them into killing machines? Does that mean Scales is mutating innocent dinosaurs?"

"Hate to say it but it does sound like it. I've seen bio-weapons before." Fox said as the Arwing left the planet's atmosphere. "They are bad news. Sounds like we're going to have our work cut out for us."

Xxx

The Arwing landed on Dragon Rock and as they group emerged from Arwing they took the chance to look around.

"Man, this place makes everywhere else look like a tourist attraction." Amethyst commented, seeing the desolate wasteland.

Peridot spied the tower surrounded by four spires sending volts of power to it. "I believe that tower is the main source of power for the base set up here."

"Would explain the robots." Connie pointed at a nearby sentry that was protected by a force field.

"Where to first?" Tricky asked.

"I think we should focus on freeing the prisoners. They might know where the SpellStone is." Fox answered.

"I believe I know where to start." Garnet said, taking the lead.

She led them towards the tall building on their left. She and Fox then climbed the ladder, being careful of the flame jets. At the top, she turned to the right, climbed the ladder and crossed the platform. She then climbed down the other side, followed the path, and picked up a barrel. She then backtracked to a barrel pad, set down the barrel, and hit the switch, activating a barrel transport.

Quickly climbing the ladder she then stepped on the first switch. When the barrel has passed, she ran to the second switch and stood on it until the barrel passed that as well. Once it was put down Fox then picked it up and threw it at the wooden barricade. Following the path to revolving flames; Fox avoided these, find the switch and activate it.

"This way." Garnet gestured everyone to follow her to the other side of the plain, where they found an EarthWalker having just been freed.

"You have done well to find me but there are others." The Earthwalker said, stepping out of its cell.

"Yeah, we know. Your Thorntail friend told us all about it." Fox said solemnly.

"I am pleases to hear of his safety but the Hightop is not so fortunate. Together, we can free him."

"Oh." Fox sighed. "I'm not paid enough for this. Ok, ok, what do we do?"

"The Hightop will be an easy target for the patrolling robots. With their shields they are unstoppable. However, each one has a shield generator hidden somewhere nearby. If we can destroy these the robots will be defenseless."

"So what do you expect us to use?" Fox asked, pulling out his staff. "This?"

"Of course not. This." The Earthwalker thrust its horns through the air. "Now get on my back. Let's do some damage!"

"All right!" Amethyst grinned, morphing into a Triceratops. "Now we're talking!"

The two then rampaged through the wasteland, Garnet leading Amethyst to one pair of shield generators while Fox and the Earthwalker took care of the other pair. With the shield generators destroyed the robots were vulnerable and easily destroyed by Pearl.

"Good job." The Earthwalker said once the deed was one. "The Hightop should be freed next. He can lead you to a Cloudrunner that can help you find the SpellStone."

"Right. Thanks." Fox said, getting off the Earthwalker's back.

They headed back to HighTop Tower and entered the door on the right side, finding the Highstop imprisoned with its neck in shackles.

"I've tried to break these ropes but they're too strong. Maybe you can help?" The Hightop asked.

Fox looked at the switches above each rope. "Pearl, you see what I see."

"Yes I do." Pearl summoned her spear.

The two fired, hitting all four switches and freeing the Hightop.

"I guess we're ready to go." The Hightop stomped on the ground, enjoying his freedom.

"Go where?" Tricky asked.

The Hightop lowered his neck, looking down at Tricky. "We're crossing the plain." He then looked to Fox and the Crystal Gems. "And you're going to have to protect me."

Fox, Connie and Peridot jumped onto the Hightop's back.

"Are you ready? Let's go!"

The Hightop began crossing the plain with Fox, Connie and Peridot on its back.

"What exactly did you need protection from?" Connie asked.

A sound from the tower was heard and they all looked up to see incoming projectiles.

"Missiles!" Peridot shouted.

Fox aimed and fired with his staff on the incoming missiles. Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Lapis quickly helped out in defending the Hightop, destroying the missiles until finally they reached the end and the HighTop opened a new area.

"This is as far as I can go. The Cloudrunner will be straight up ahead." The Hightop said as the three on his back jumped off onto the ground.

They proceeded forward, fining the Cloudrunner hanging above the ground in a cage. "Help! Get me out of here!"

Pearl jumped up and slashed the chains holding the cage, causing it to fall onto the ground. The Cloudrunner staggered out of the cage, shaken from the impact.

"Are you okay?" Fox asked as the Cloudrunner stood up.

"I'm fine…Thanks for helping me out." The Cloudrunner answered, looking to Fox and the Gems. "Hey, aren't you friends of Krystal and Steven?"

Fox along Connie and the Gems were surprised to say the least. "How do you know Krystal and Steven?"

"I helped Krystal get onto General Scales' Galleon and then rescued her and Steven when Scales threw them overboard. I then took them to Krazoa Palace but after I left I was captured by the Sharpclaw and I've been stuck here ever since. Why don't you climb aboard? I need to stretch my wings." The Cloudrunner said, lowering itself so they could hop on.

Fox and Connie hopped onto the Cloudrunner's back.

"The Spellstone you seek is hidden below the great tower. To get inside you'll have to destroy the four spires that protect it. I will fly you in close but you'll have to protect me from their fire."

"I'll be your backup." Amethyst said, changing into a helicopter for Pearl, Garnet and Peridot while Lapis sprouted her water wings.

They took off, flying back out into the main area. As soon they did Fox and Pearl fired energy blasts from their staffs while Garnet fired her gauntlets like rockets the nearest spire. It was not easy as the spires began firing missiles at them. The combined assault from Pearl, Garnetand Fox was enough to destroy each spire and open the way into the tower.

"It's all up to you now." The Cloudrunner said, flying up to the tower with Amethyst and Lapis right behind. "The Spellstone is inside. But Scales has it guarded by a terrible creature. You all must be careful."

Fox nodded and jumped down into the tower.

"Lapis, you stay here and look after Connie and Peridot." Garnet said as Amethyst morphed back into her normal form.

Lapis nodded as the three Crystal Gems jumped down into the tower after Fox. They all landed on a platform that floated over a river of lava.

"It'a literal volcano down here." Fox said, feeling the heat.

"Something's in here." Garnet glanced up, seeing something hanging above them. "Up there!"

The rest looked up, watching as a pair of large orange wings opened up, revealing a dragon like monster with cybernetic implants, wearing a triple clawed gauntlet and had horned antlers atop its head.

"Yikes!" Amethyst gaped. "That's one ugly beast!"

"That must be the monster the Cloudrunner was talking about." Pearl said as she summoned her spear.

The monster roared as it shot down towards the group but Garnet jumped up, meeting it in mid-air. The monster and Gem grappled with each other as they flew down into the lava.

"Garnet!" Fox called out.

"It's all right, Fox. She's got this." Amethyst said as they hit the lava.

The monster screamed as it was drowned into the lava. A few seconds later Garnet emerged from the lava unharmed and with the SpellStone in her hands.

"Mission accomplished." Garnet said, wiping some lava off of her visors.

Xxx

"You guys did it! You got the last Spellstone!" Tricky exclaimed happily as the group gathered around the Arwing.

"Not bad! Not bad at all!" The Cloudrunner said with a smile.

"Get that Spellstone back to the Ocean Force Point and we can all be on our home." The Earthwalker said.

"There's an old friend we would all like to see." The Hightop finished.

"Ok, guys. We're outta here. See ya later!" Fox said as the group hopped back onto the Arwing.

( **End Credits** )


	22. Chapter 22

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

( **The Last Spirits** )

"Man, I can't believe we got the last SpellStone." Amethyst said as they group headed towards Cape Claw. "This will put the planet back together, right?"

"Yep." Fox nodded, holding the SpellStone. "The planet will come back together and Scales will be finished. He'll never be able to hurt another dinosaur again. Once we place this stone in the temple the locks will be closed and the stones will be protected where Scales won't be able to get his hands on them."

"And then we can finish gathering the Krazoa spirits to save Steven." Garnet cut in stoically. "There are still two spirits that need to be found."

"So where would the other two be?" Connie asked. "We've already found one near Cape Claw in the Light Foot village, one in Moon Mountain Pass, and another in SnowHorn Wastes."

"I asked Slippy to do some scanning over the planet. We've been to enough shrines that he's familiar enough with the energy signature of a Krazoa Spirit." Fox replied as they entered Cape Claw.

"Hey look!" Amethyst pointed at the entrance to the Ocean Force Point Temple, seeing a wooden barricade. "It's a barricade."

"A primitive one." Peridot said disdainfully. "How can they expect a wooden barricade to block Gems?"

"Obviously the SharpClaw. They must be trying every trick in the book to keep us from returning the SpellStone." Fox replied as they walked towards the entrance.

"Yeah, well nothing in the book could prepare them for us." Amethyst said, summoning her whip and slashed the barricade to bits.

"We'll probably be going through the same set of traps as before much like back at the volcano." Fox cautioned as they entered the temple.

"I still prefer this temple over the volcano." Lapis remarked, walking through the halls of the temple.

They ended up crossing the electric floor again, but this time they had to cross three sets of tiles. Garnet's Future Vision told to go to the north room in the next area. It was be flooded, so they could reach the northwest room this time. Garnet and Fox pushed the block into the corner to climb up and hit a switch. Fox then jumped to the next platform and put on the SharpClaw Costume and stood on the pad.

A door opened in the center column. Fox flipped the switch that's revealed to flood the room and the group then proceeded south. The puzzle in the next room was similar to the one on their first trip through but this time each statue could only put out one flame. The platform also moved faster as Fox put out the fires.

Next was the room with the block puzzle. Garnet's Future Visions directed Fox to shoot these sides in this order: east, south, east, north, west, south, and east. This made a boost pad appear. Fox used it while the other Gems helped Peridot and Connie up and followed the path to the warp pad.

"This is it." Fox said as he took out the last SpellStone and placed it in its proper place.

Like the previous times the chamber shook as the flow of energy from the planet's core finally ceased and an image of the planet appeared.

"Look! The planet's coming back together!" Amethyst pointed to the image as the floating landmasses came back together with the planet.

"Yeah!" Tricky cheered, hopping on his feet. "We did it, Fox!"

Fox tapped his communicator. "Guys, guys! Are you seeing this? Mission accomplished. Forward our bill to General Pepper."

"Wait. Something's not right." Garnet suddenly spoke.

A second later she was proven right as the planet's landmasses broke apart again.

"What the clod?!" Peridot exclaimed. "The SpellStones have been returned. Why is the planet still breaking apart?"

"We've placed all the SpellStones!" Fox complained.

Peppy's image appeared in front of Fox. " _There must be more to it, Fox. Since you left Walled City, I've been studying your mission. And I've noticed there's something hidden at the top of that huge temple. It looks like a Krazoa Shrine entrance._ "

"Oh yeah, I could have told you that." Tricky grumbled.

"The Krazoa Spirits must have a deeper connection with the planet than we thought." Garnet remarked. "Looks like we are going back to Walled City."

"C'mon. Let's back to the Hollow." Fox sighed.

Xxx

The Earthwalker Queen had been waiting for them at the entrance to the maze that led to Lightfoot Village. "Fox, Gems, something is not right. The Walled City has not yet returned to the planet. My husband is still stick up there. You did return all the SpellStones?"

"Of course." Fox nodded.

"But you guys didn't mention that the spirits were needed too." Amethysy grumbled. "That could have been useful to know."

"You're right. Without all the Spirits the magic cannot be channeled back into the planet." The Queen agreed.

"So we are helping the whole planet by finding the Spirits, not just Steven." Pearl commented solemnly.

"Your boss said to return to the Walled City." Tricky spoke up. "There must be a shrine we've yet to find."

"Yes. The Walled City's temple more than likely houses a shrine. My husband must have been protecting it." The Queen surmised.

"He could have told us about when we were still up there." Amethyst grunted.

"Easy, Amethyst." Garnet cautioned. "We were going to have to collect them all eventually. My Future Vision cannot detect these shrines, most likely because of the power of the Spirits. They must be able to hide themselves."

"We better get a move on then." Fox said, bidding goodbye to the Queen and headed for the Arwing.

Xxx

The trip back to the Walled City was quick and the group saw that the Earthwalker King and the rest of the tribe had been waiting for them.

"Fox, Crystal Gems, on behalf of Dinosaur Planet I thank you all for returning the SpellStones to their rightful place." The King spoke gratefully.

"For what good it did!" Fox complained and sat down. "If you didn't notice, you're still stick up here on this floating rock."

"By removing the SpellStones, Scales caused our planet to tear apart. Returning the stones has stopped the flow of magic energy. But only by the power of the Krazoa Spirits will the floating lands return." The King replied.

"Seems like we all have our reasons for finding the last of the spirits." Fox mentioned. "The Queen said we could find one here in the city. So where is it?"

"And why didn't you mention one was around the last time we were here?" Amethyst cut in.

"As the gatekeeper of this land I was charged with protecting it and its secrets. I didn't mention it before because the return of the SpellStones had greater priority at the time. If Scales had learned of the shrine he'd have attempted to return here in full force and most likely would have burned the entire place down to find the shrine." The King closed his eyes. "The Spirit will be revealed once both the Sun and Moon stones are returned to the temple."

"That's informative." Amethyst said dryly.

"I believe I know where to start." Garnet said, bidding the King goodbye as the group left, using her Future Vision.

She led them to an area where blocks are floating in the air along with symbols. "We have to push those blocks to the symbols."

"Why do all the puzzles have to be so complicated?" Amethyst complained.

"It wouldn't protect the temple if it was easy." Connie pointed out.

Fox, Amethyst and Garnet started to push the blocks into the symbols without having them touch the wall. The blocks would slide until they were stopped by either another block or a symbol. Once the puzzle was solved a lift was revealed.

"A transport unit." Peridot marveled.

They walked to the temple and ride the lift up to the top.

"Now what?" Amethyst asked.

Garnet pointed and Fox followed with his binoculars to a shining spot. This opened a door, leading into the temple.

"So we are entering the Moon temple. Obviously we are looking for an artifact shaped like the moon." Pearl surmised as Fox flipped the switch to open the door but gates blocked the way.

"Let's take them down!" Amethyst said, moving forward.

"NO!" Garnet grabbed Amethyst and pulled her back just in time as the tile she was on fell into a dark abyss. "It's a trap! We have to wait until the gates come down."

"It's safer if only one of us goes." Fox remarked. "I'll go first."

Fox moved onto the tiles, waiting just for the right second before moving onto another just in time. The gate finally lowered and Fox made it through. Garnet stretched out with one arm, picking up Peridot while Pearl picked up Connie and Tricky and they jumped over to the other side.

The next room had Quake circle symbol which Fox used his Quake power on. The door opened but a timer was activated.

"Come on!" Amethyst ran forward but slammed into an invisible wall. "You gotta be kidding!"

"Follow me!" Garnet said, using her Future Vision to lead them through the invisible maze.

The final room had a series of panels on a giant wheel that Fox had to shoot at with his Fire Blaster in order clockwise. Once it was complete the group recovered the Moon Stone.

"Moon down, Sun to go." Amethyst remarked as they left the Moon Temple.

"Now we have to go the Sun Temple." Fox pointed to the red temple on the other side of the Walled City.

The Sun Temple was virtually identical to the Moon Temple so the group entered in the same manner as before. In the first room of the temple they had to push and pull blocks in the wall so they are showing symbols when they are in the wall. In the second room they had to flip a bunch of switches to lower invisible walls. However they were blocked by a certain kind of obstacle that requires a specific item to get past with a time limit.

Finally, Fox had to shoot more panels in the last room but the wheel was uncovering them in the opposite direction. He still needed to shoot the targets in a clockwise direction though.

"We got them. Now where?" Connie wondered.

"The only place where we can put them is the same place where we put the golden teeth in to get to that giant Red Eye." Fox answered, leading them to the underground chamber where the sun and moon stones were placed in the same statues they placed the golden teeth in last time.

Once the stones were in place the top of the temple changed to reveal the entrance to the fifth Krazoa Shrine.

( **End Credits** )


	23. Chapter 23

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

( **The Final Spirit** )

"I should come with you, Fox. You might need help in there." Connie said as the group approached the warp pad atop the temple.

"Connie, I've been through enough shrines on my own. Plus the traps in these shrines are dangerous enough without me worrying about whoever is with me." Fox replied, stopping in front of the warp pad and looked down at Connie. "You've proven yourself dozens of times since we met and I trust you. But its better I go alone. Once the test is over we'll be one step away from saving your friend so I ask you to please trust me."

Connie wanted to argue but sighed and relented. "All right. Be careful in there, Fox."

Fox nodded. "I will."

Xxx

The temple was pretty easy to get through was pretty easy to get through, considering how tough the other ones had been. It was easy to reach the Krazoa spirit that had been waiting for him.

" _Test #5- The Test of Knowledge._ " The spirit explained the rules and the test began.

Fox found himself facing six items in front of six windows depicting different terrains but all of them looked familiar. He took a careful look at each of them and though it took nearly thirty seconds he knew where all of them went.

The Dinosaur Horn goes in front of the window showing DarkIce Mines.

The CloudRunner Flute goes in CloudRunner Fortress.

The Wooden Square goes in LightFoot Village.

The Moonseed goes in Moon Mountain Pass.

The RedEye tooth goes in Walled City.

The Meteorite goes in outer space.

As soon Fox put the meteorite down the items and windows vanished and the spirit appeared before him, showing Fox had passed the test.

The fifth Krazoa Spirit had been found.

Xxx

The Crystal Gems watched and waited as Fox approached Trick who was standing by his father.

Fox knelt down in front of the Earthwalker Prince. "This is it, Tricky. It's time to say goodbye."

Tricky looked down at the ground for a few seconds and then looked back up with a saddened faced. "I know you're right, Fox. It's just…"

"Yeah, I know." Fox held up a hand to his eyes, trying not to look sad but smiled. "I'm gonna miss you too. Without you, this mission would have failed. So I've got something for you." He held up a pin and placed it on Tricky's forehead. "Prince Tricky Earthwalker, you are now an honorary member of the StarFox Team."

Tricky looked excited now as he ran around Fox. "Dad, did you heat that?! I'm a member of Star Fox! Do I get my own spaceship?"

Everyone else just laughed.

"I'll come visit you soon."

"Just don't make it too long, okay?"

Fox nodded with a sad smile.

Connie walked up and hugged Tricky. "We won't forget you either, Tricky. You helped us out a lot."

"Yeah, little dude. You make me wish we still had dinosaurs on our planet." Amethyst patted Tricky on the head.

"Yes, your assistance in our quest is greatly appreciated." Peridot nodded in agreement.

Garnet knelt down in front of Tricky. "If Steven were with us he'd make you an honorary member of the Crystal Gems. We don't have any pin to offer you but I consider you a member."

"We all do." Pearl nodded in agreement. "If we have the chance we'll bring Steven back to visit you. I'd know the two of you would get along."

"Okay. I'd like to him too." Tricky nodded in agreement. "See ya guys."

The group left Tricky with his father, returning to the Arwing and a moment later it took off back towards the planet.

Xxx

" _I've got your navigation systems programmed to land directly on the roof of the Krazoa Palace._ " Peppy spoke as the Arwing approached the planet.

"Thanks, Peppy. Did you find the last shrine?" Fox asked.

" _In fact I did. Inside the Krazoa Palace, right on the roof._ "

"What?!" Amethyst exclaimed. "There was a shrine in the palace the whole time?! How come it took you this long?"

" _It's not easy tracking these shrines, Amethyst. It took me the time you had been at the Walled City the first time to find the shrine after you got back from Dragon Rock. The energy disruption from the Krazoa Palace forced me to modify the scanners several times._ "

"All right, so we won't even have to leave the palace after I release the spirit we have now." Fox said as the Arwing entered the atmosphere.

"And when we find the last spirit we save the planet and Steven." Connie remarked, seeing the Krazoa Palace up ahead, still surrounded by storm clouds.

The Arwing landed on the roof, right below the crystal that held Steven and Krystal since the day their journey had started.

"All right, we find the statue to release the spirit and then the last shrine." Fox said as the cockpit opened up.

The Gems disembarked and greeted Lapis as she landed in front the Arwing, looking up to where Steven was being held. With Fox's plan in mind they headed for the current to the north and rode it down to the floor just below the roof and ran around to the south side of it. They then walked down this hallway, floating across the gap, and continued along the way.

They upon an outer sanctum with a Krazoa statue which Fox stood in front of, releasing the spirit. Once the fifth spirit joined the others in orbit of the crystal holding Krystal and Steven the gates surrounding the last shrine opened. The group returned to the roof, instantly locating the shrine.

"We should have tried smashing our way to the shrine." Amethyst grumbled as they gathered around the warp pad.

"That hasn't worked for us in all the other time concerning the Krazoa." Pearl pointed out. "So if the last spirit is found Steven will be freed. I wish we could join you in this test, Fox."

"I've made it through the other tests before. Still, you could try shrinking down and being close to me when I warp in." Fox suggested. "If Connie was able to warp with me for the test in the Lightfoot village you guys should be able to follow."

"Hey, yeah! We should totally try it!" Amethyst said before hopping onto Fox's back and shrank herself down.

"I agree." Garnet turned to Lapis and Peridot. "Lapis, Peridot, we need you two to stay out here and guard Steven. There is a chance the SharpClaw will try something to stop us from putting the planet back together."

Lapis gave Garnet a thumb's up while Peridot saluted. "You can count on us!"

Xxx

It turned out that the Gems were able to enter the shrine will being shrunken down and standing on the shoulders of Fox and Connie. But when they entered the shrine there were no traps waiting for them.

The chamber where the spirit should have been was in fact the next room they entered.

As soon as they entered the came upon a square shaped stage in the center of the room which they climbed on.

"So where's the spirit?" Amethyst asked out loud.

"It should be right here." Fox answered, looking around. "Something is not right."

That was when a voice spoke from above. "I have been waiting for you, Fox McCloud and Crystal Gems."

The Gems and Fox spun around as General Scales landed down on the stage, brandishing a golden sword.

"You!" Amethyst pulled out her whip. "I've itching for a rematch!"

"You all may have returned the SpellStones but the war is not over yet." Scales said as his enemies summoned their weapons. "Now you face me."

Fox pointed his staff at Scales. "It's over, Scales. The force point temples are closed and all of Dinosaur Planet is united against you. Even if the planet is still broke you'll never enslave anyone ever again."

"So just hand over the spirit and we'll go easy on you." Amethyst snarled.

Scales laughed. "You want the spirit? Come and take it!"

"It's inside him!" Garnet said suddenly. "The spirit is inside him!"

"What?!" Connie exclaimed as Scales grinned.

"So, my little secret is out. No matter, it's time to end this!" Scales roared and charged, swinging his blade at Fox who hastily blocked but was knocked back.

" **STOP!** " A voice barked out of nowhere, halting the fight. " **Scales! You are no longer of any use to me!** "

Scales looked up, trying to find the source of the voice. "Who are you? I demand you show yourself!"

" **I am the one you brought into the Krazoa Palace. The Earthwalkers could see me but you could not.** "

"I don't understand." Scales said in confusion.

" **No, I didn't think you would. Your lust for power blinded you to the truth. Now give Fox what he came here for. Give him the final Krazoa Spirit.** "

Scales glared at Fox and the Crystal Gems. "You'll regret this…" He let out one final roar and fell over, releasing the Krazoa spirit.

General Scales, scourge of the Dinosaur Planet was dead.

"Well that was anti-climactic." Amethyst commented as the spirit possessed Fox. "Who was that just now?"

"Probably whatever Kyte was talking about." Garnet answered warily. "But it doesn't matter now. Let's save Steven."

( **End Credits** )


	24. Chapter 24

( **Steven Universe Intro** )

( **The Krazoa God** )

As soon as Fox and the Gems returned to Krazoa Palace a statue right underneath the crystal holding its captives had emerged from the wall, waiting for the final spirit.

"Finally." Pearl whispered as Fox walked up to the statue. "The nightmare is over."

Fox knelt down and released the final spirit into the statue and a moment later it joined its fellow spirits, circling the crystal.

"Something is not right." Garnet said, her voice carrying a tone of urgency.

"Nothing is happening." Amethyst complained. "What's the big idea?!"

Fox stood up, watching as the spirits circled the crystal. "What's going on? You said this would save them!"

Instead a spirit shot into the prison, entering Krystal's body.

"No!" Fox cried out, running up to the crystal.

"They're entering Krystal!" Connie cried out as another spirit entered the unconscious vixen.

One by one each spirit entered Krystal until they were all inside her and the prison faced the giant Krazoa statue. Then as one the spirits shot out of Krystal, shooting right through Steven and emerging from his gemstone and into the statue.

"STEVEN!" The Gems and Connie screamed out.

The statue began to shake as the prison holding the two shattered and exploded, leaving them to fall to their deaths had it not been for Amethyst and Garnet catching them both.

"Steven!" Pearl grabbed Steven from Garnet and held him close. "Please be okay. Please be okay."

Amethyst placed Krystal down on the ground as Fox knelt down next to her and checked her pulse. "She's alive. They're both alive."

"Why did the spirits do that?" Connie asked.

Connie's question was answered as the head of the Krazoa statue lifted up from its body and hovered above the palace.

" **I am reborn!** " A voice came from the statue. " **The mighty Krazoa God!** "

"That's the voice we heard before!" Amethyst shouted, pulling out her whips. "It's responsible for Steven being caught!"

"It must be the evil Kyte was talking about." Garnet said, gritting her teeth.

" **Kneel all those that stand before me!** " The statue's head demanded, looking down at the group.

"YOU DID THIS!" Pearl shouted, looking at the up with pure rage at the floating head. "YOU CAPTURED STEVEN AND TRICKED US INTO DOING YOUR DIRTY WORK!"

The statue laughed. " **Of course. I hadn't intended to capture the boy. Only the vixen for her powers. She could channel the power of the Krazoa spirts which was exactly what I needed to fully revive myself but when the boy showed great power I knew had to have it and now I have even more power than I could have imagined.** "

"Who are you?" Fox demanded, pointing his staff at the floating statue.

" **Have you forgotten me already, Fox McCloud?** " The statue turned around, revealing a second face!

It was ape-like with red skin, with two floating red skinned clawed hands that had been covering its face, fanged teeth and burning yellow and red eyes that were exactly the same as the eyes of the deceased General Scales.

Fox's eyes widened as he stared up at the face, instantly recognizing it. "ANDROSS!"

The Gems and Connie glanced at Fox, taking note of his shocked features.

"Andross…As in the Andross you spoke of?" Connie asked, looking back up at the face. "The same one?"

" **Ah, so Fox does remember me?** " Andross chuckled, grinning now. " **I have been looking forward to this day. To see you again, Fox.** "

"How?" Fox managed to speak. "You were destroyed. I saw your base explode. Nothing could have survived it."

" **But I did.** " Andross' eyes glittered with delight and rage. " **You have no idea of the lengths I went through to transform myself to become the perfect being. When you destroyed my physical form my spirit clung to this plane of existence, horribly weakened. I was left to wander the depths of space, hoping, _praying_ that I would find a way to revive myself. That answer came in the form of the Krazoa spirits that keep this planet alive.** "

"You gave Scales what he needed to defeat the Earthwalkers because he could get you into the palace." Fox realized. "And when the spirits scattered you captured Krystal and Steven and had us search for spirits."

" **Though weakened I was able to share what little power I had left with the SharpClaw and their leader. The Earthwalkers could see me but Scales remained oblivious to my presence. I only needed the vixen to come to this planet which happened when the Earthwalker called for help. I simply waited until the right time to spring my trap.** " Andross confirmed proudly. " **I knew you would be brought here, Fox when word of Sauria breaking apart reached the ears of that old poodle General Pepper and I knew you would be the perfect candidate to hunt down the rest of the spirits. When you gathered them I here I used the vixen to channel their power directly to me and create a new body. How ironic that the one who destroyed my physical body before would be the one to ensure the creation of my new one.** "

"And Steven?"

" **He offered a new source of power that I could not help but wish to have for my own.** " Andross chuckled even as the Gems stared up at him with hate. " **Speaking of which I think I shall test a sample of the power I gained from him.** "

In a flash of light the giant floating head shrunk down, becoming more humanoid as it landed on the ground and the light faded away. Andross stood up, now possessing an ape like muscular body with pulsing red skin and wore dark robes that made him look like royalty. His hands were clawed and he had now white hair falling down his shoulders.

" **Yes, the ability to morph my form, changing into light and energy and assuming a new shape while simulating mass.** " Andross marveled at his new shape shifting ability. " **The power of the Krazoa combined with the power of a so-called Crystal Gem. With this power I will destroy the Lylat System and soon I will remake this universe in my own image.** "

"We'll see about that, Andross." Fox twirled his staff in on hand and pointed it at his revived nemesis. "I defeated you once and I'll do it again."

"And he won't be alone." Garnet said as the Gems stood with Fox. "Peridot, stay with Steven and Krystal. We'll handle this."

"You're going to pay for what you have done to Steven!" Pearl summoned her spear.

Andross laughed. " **This will be fun.** "

( **End Credits** )


End file.
